Yaten's Love Song
by Jennifer Wand
Summary: The 'baby' of my fanfics - the one I spent a year writing and love most. My 60-page treatise on why Yaten and Minako belong together. Take good care of my baaaaaby....
1. Default Chapter

A note to fanfiction.net readers: There was an authorship controversy surrounding this story in 1997, when it was first published online. To read the details, please go to http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/eponine/evidence.html  
  
Thanks.  
  
  
NOTES to know before reading this:  
  
Shinsei means "new star" in Japanese.  
Gender pronouns don't mean much when relating to the Starlights, but "it"  
sounds bad. So just pretend they're neutral. I used male pronouns almost  
exclusively, even in Starlight form, for reasons discussed in the 'fic.  
My apologies for the lack of accents on french words.  
Ganbare means "do your best" or "try hard."  
Moshi-moshi means "Hello?" like you say when you answer the telephone or are  
trying to get someone's attention.  
Itabashi Saki is the photographer in episode 185.  
"Ara" is a mild exclamation of surprise.  
"Ikenai" means "bad" or "wrong," literally "don't go."  
"Doshite" (also spelled dooshite/doushite sometimes) means "Why" or "How".  
"Omae-tachi" is a very informal way of saying "You guys..."  
"Ano" = "um.."  
"Gomen Nasai" = "I'm sorry" (kind of formal)  
  
That's all the cultural notes for now. I didn't want to interrupt the  
narrative for them.  
There will be a quiz afterwards.. jes' kidding! Enjoy...  
  
**  
  
Many's the time when I've stood out here, staring, fixated, at the  
stars. Brilliant holes in the darkness, as if needles had studded the deep  
blue cloth in an attempt to sew up forever the mysteries of the universe.  
That project failed, as all projects of that sort do. And instead of wrapping  
us in a tight sheath and sealing us in ignorance, it's exposed us to the  
glittering lights of knowledge not yet gained.   
Knowledge is funny that way. It appears despite all efforts to  
conceal it. When you don't know about something, you never imagine it might  
exist. And when you finally find out-- well, then you don't know how your  
world could have ever existed without it.  
  
It's been a while since we arrived at our new home. That's all I can  
say, for months and years are meaningless far from Earth. But I still seem to  
sleep and wake up as though I were on that planet.   
A lot of things have changed for us since we've been there. Most  
importantly, the Princess has found a new way to rule. Her strict smiles that  
lit our way then have been transformed into gestures of more warmth, letting  
the people see what we have known about her for quite some time. No longer  
the completely dedicated, perfect, untouchable ruler she was, she now appears  
to the people as flawed, but gentle, and accepting of others' flaws-- of the  
little bit of Chaos in our hearts, she says with a secretive smile. The  
people love her as they loved her then, but more genuinely, more freely, and  
we three have grown in our love for her too. She has truly become great.  
Guided by her hand, our meager band has turned the bare rock of  
Shinsei into a thriving colony. There were only a handful of survivors at the  
start. But every so often a familiar face will wander over the hills,  
confused as to where they'd been, but happy to be reunited with us. And there  
will be a small spark of gold in the sky, and we'll look upwards gratefully.   
As for us personally, we are living in an orbiting palace, Star  
Castle. Shinsei is a small planet, and the idea of a satellite was Taiki's,  
"to maintain a constant and even vigil over the colony," so he said. I really  
have to give him credit for that-- it was a wonderful idea. Wonderful ideas  
are his business now.  
Seiya's business is somewhat different. He is the Princess's consort  
now, and they do seem very happily in love. But there's a blonde-haired angel  
hiding behind his dreams sometimes-- not that I blame him for that. She  
remains, fluttering, in all our hearts. The symbol of all we've learned from  
our time on that world. All we've taken back with us.  
But still I stand, staring out into the infinity we've traveled. And  
I ponder love, and the curious differences between man and woman. I never  
knew there was such a thing as gender, and now that I do, I can't get my mind  
off it.  
Logically, it's a rather primitive concept, especially for a society  
that knows love. Why should the choice of partners be limited? I think back  
to that enigmatic pair, Haruka and Michiru. They are both of the type  
"Woman," but so in love nonetheless. I feel sorry for them-- Michiru shall  
never know the joy of carrying her true love's child, or vice versa. Just  
because they don't have the correct match of parts. It seems cruel to  
restrict it that way-- why shouldn't one know the full joy of their beloved,  
whoever they may be? Here, of course, we have no genders, although some  
people act "masculine" or "feminine" as it is called on Earth. Everyone is  
capable of both impregnating and being pregnant. And everyone is therefore  
equal.   
But still-- I was a "guy" on Earth. And, I suppose, now that I think  
about it, I feel like a "guy" too. And I wonder-- what would it be like?   
And when all is still, and no stars move but prick me in the eyes with  
their pinpoint stares, I even wish. Wish-- I wish I could return-- I wish I  
could become a male for real. If I was a male for real, maybe...   
(And the stars stare me down, daring me to continue...)  
...if I was a male for real, maybe she...  
  
**  
  
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars:  
Yaten's Love Song  
  
a fanfic by Jennifer A. Wand  
  
Part I  
  
**  
  
Present, Juuban  
  
"Todaaay......" Minako announced to the entire Juuban Heights  
apartment complex, "...is Mako-chan's first ballet lesson!"  
"Would you keep it down!?" shushed Makoto, ushering her  
overenthusiastic friend inside. "It's a Sunday and most normal people sleep  
in, you know."  
"Yadda, yadda, yadda," sang the blonde, as she milled about Makoto's  
apartment. Her hair was up in a huge bun, and she was wearing a leotard with  
shorts over it, carrying an athletic bag in one hand and a boom box in the  
other. "All I know is-- is there an outlet anywhere in this room?--  
Mako-chan's offered to give me cooking lessons if I give her-- put this on,  
hon-- dancing lessons. So here I am-- aren't you ready yet?"   
Makoto looked down at herself. It was not easy finding a leotard for  
a girl who usually shopped at Big 'n' Tall. "I feel like a Jell-O mold," she  
said deadpan.  
"Well, you look great." The unstoppable Minako gave her a wink and a  
thumbs-up. "So let's go!" She punctuated her remark by slamming the "play"  
button on the boom-box, and some danceable (if less than classical) music  
started. "Now you stand in front of me, and hold the table like a barre,  
okay? The first move is a plie, you go down and bend your knees like this.  
We'll do four, and then four releves... that's going up on your toes, see? Got  
it?" In English, she called out, "One! Two! Three!"  
  
About fifteen minutes into the exercise, Makoto was feeling slightly  
ill. Minako had lost herself in Jane Fonda land, working out with a huge  
grin, tightly shut eyes, and no grip on reality. She hadn't bothered to  
explain the last few exercises, and Makoto had no idea whether she was doing  
them right. She did, however, know that she had a cramp and wanted to stop,  
but Minako was busy shouting "Kick! and Kick! Come ON!" in an odd mixture of  
Japanese and English, and had tuned her student out.   
Makoto inched closer to her friend, trying to avoid the erratic  
movements of her left leg, which periodically shot out in one direction or the  
other. "Um, Minako-chan..." she said softly, amidst beats from the boom box  
and KICK!s from Minako, "I'm doing my best, but..."   
"KICK! Ganbare!"  
Moving around the other side of the table now, Makoto leaned in toward  
the other girl. "Erm... yo... Minako-chan... could we stop for a minute  
maybe..."  
"KICK!"  
"Mina... moshi-moshi..."  
"*KICK!*"  
Makoto leaned in closer and sucked in a sharp breath. She was barely  
inches from Minako's enthusiastic profile. Tight-lipped smile, barking  
orders, tense scowl over eyes shut in fierce concentration... but this close,  
Makoto could see gritted teeth between shouts, wetness at the corner of the  
eyes, locked shoulders... with another gasp, Makoto realized that Minako was  
fighting desperately to keep from crying.  
She walked back around the table and placed both hands on her friend's  
shoulders firmly. She took a deep breath, paused for a moment...   
and shook Minako as hard as she could. "GET A GRIP WHY DON'T YOU  
MINAKO-CHAN!!!!"  
  
Several minutes and a plate of freshly baked cookies later, Minako  
took another sip of water and looked up apologetically at her friend. "Gomen  
nasai, Mako-chan."  
"It's okay," Makoto smiled, sitting down with her own glass of water.  
"But-- what's going on, Minako-chan?"  
Minako turned away. "Nothing..."  
"You're a terrible liar." The blonde turned back, surprised, to see  
Makoto winking at her, mouth closed around a straw. One long gulp later, she  
grinned. "I could see your eyes. Now what is it, or wh..."  
"...stop..."  
The voice was weak, but Makoto stopped mid-tease with a look of sudden  
surprise and concern. Minako hadn't turned away quite as far, and this time  
the tears in her eyes were glisteningly obvious. She stared wistfully, aqua  
gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the clock on Makoto's wall. And the small  
voice came again, a little stronger, but still soft, pleading. "Just... stop  
it, please."  
Makoto exhaled. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding in the  
breath. The shimmering tears were balanced so precariously just inside  
Minako's eyelids, and it seemed that if they fell, the girl would crumble...  
Now was not the time. Not yet.  
  
"Okay. But don't forget, I'm your friend..."  
  
**  
  
Star Castle  
  
Taiki slapped Yaten on the back of the head.  
  
"Yow!" The silver-haired sentinel turned from the huge paneled window  
and laughed at the taller figure, who was already halfway down the hall. "And  
hello to you too!" he shouted.  
Taiki turned back briefly, waving at his friend. "Cheer up," he said,  
smiling.  
"I'm cheery, I'm cheery," pouted Yaten, insulted. At Taiki's half  
smile, he scowled and made a face.  
"Really." Taiki walked back toward the shorter Starlight, the teasing  
grin still on his face, eyes shifting halfway between Yaten's face and the  
starry panorama.  
Yaten bristled. "What, don't you believe me? Watch it, or I'm going  
to wipe that smile right off your smug little face."  
Now standing right next to him, Taiki looked down. WAY down. "MY  
little face."  
"Enough with the height gags," Yaten grumbled. "It's tired." He  
placed his palms on the glass again and continued to stare out at the void.  
Taiki gave a self-deprecating smile to Yaten's back, then moved up  
alongside him. "Something going on out there?" he asked.  
"Nothing unusual," answered Yaten. "All the stars feel okay."   
"Then what's with--" Halfway through his sentence, Taiki reconsidered.  
"Well, if you sense anything strange, let me know. In the meantime, you're on  
duty, partner."  
Yaten gave an exasperated sign. "What, already?"  
"'Fraid so." Taiki gave a mock sympathetic sigh. "It's a tough life,  
though, isn't it?"  
"Like you'd know." Yaten looked daggers at the red-haired Senshi.  
"Mister Cerebral."  
"Better a geek than an empath any day."  
"Hear, here." Yaten sang out immediately, then blushed at his  
readiness to agree. A feeling of dread crept along his shoulders as he  
realized that Taiki was staring at him, a suddenly serious expression on his  
face. All at once, Yaten desperately wished he was a turtle.  
"Sensing all the stars... having to feel everything that everyone  
around you feels..." He paused, and Yaten cringed farther. He was used to  
Taiki's constant scientific inquiries, but that didn't make them any more  
pleasant. How many times could you possibly try and explain empathy to a  
non-empath? Yaten steeled himself for the inevitable questions.  
"How do you do it?"   
He blinked. That's not how it went...  
Taiki was in earnest. "I can't figure out how you manage it. When we  
were on Earth, both Seiya and I were on the verge of falling apart from our  
own pain. But you were feeling both our pain and the pain of all the dying  
stars. I can't even begin to imagine. How can you possibly handle that much  
emotion without falling apart?"  
Yaten stammered and fell silent. Nobody had ever asked him that  
question before... not so directly. How do you describe what it's like to  
feel galaxies, to hurt with strangers, to have to cut off the most basic of  
responses simply to survive? The question was so intrusive, he felt violated  
somehow. "You... I wouldn't even bother explaining it to you," he lashed out,  
rather more nastily than jokingly. "You with your head up in the clouds."  
Deadpan, Taiki said, "We're orbiting in outer space. There are no  
clouds."  
"See!?!?" blurted an exasperated Yaten. "That's just what I mean!"  
Giving a snort, he turned away. Taiki broke into his trademark giggle,  
leaning against the window, his shoulders flapping as a high-pitched cadenza  
of laughter swelled and faded. Finally, straightening up, he wiped the tears  
from his eyes. "What's so funny?" Yaten finally demanded.  
"You," answered Taiki as he walked down the hall, still grinning and  
chuckling uncontrollably. "You're so obvious, it's horrible. Hee hee hee!"  
He opened a door and just before turning the corner, looked back at the  
frazzled blond. "Tough, isn't it, having your own feelings to deal with too?  
Yeesh, the only thing worse than a cranky empath is an empath who's thinking  
about someone with looong eyelashes..." He disappeared just soon enough to  
escape a ball of blue lightning, which left a huge scorch mark on the door.  
  
**   
  
Seven Earth months ago, Juuban  
  
The Three Lights photo shoot was long past over, even though Itabashi  
Saki had kept them all late. The last of the straggling crew members had  
finally left, and two of the Lights had headed for home, as had Saki and the  
others. So it was with a great deal of surprise that Yaten discovered the  
girl sitting in the alleyway, tinted green with the faint glow of the coffee  
machine. "Ara... Aino-san!" he stuttered.  
She looked up, looking more sleepy than surprised. "'Minako' is  
okay," she smiled.  
"Are you nuts? Hanging out in an alley like this, late at night."  
"Awww, I didn't know you cared." She batted her eyelashes at him  
flirtatiously, and Yaten rolled his eyes, exhaling loudly.  
"I just thought you'd gone home already," he said, walking around her.  
He shoved a few coins into the coffee machine.  
"Nope," she answered, looking down again. "Just thinking about all  
the stuff I saw today. The photo shoot and everything--" She rested her chin  
on her crossed arms, leaning forward onto her knees. "I'd really like to do  
that, you know. If I could."  
Yaten felt something peculiar-- a twinge of pain from the girl beside  
him, a strange, lingering wish. Somehow losing control of his instinct to cut  
her off, he found himself curious, wanting to press her for more. Maybe it  
was fatigue from the long, long evening. Taking a sip of the hot liquid and  
flinching at its taste, he pressed his back against the machine and slid down  
to a sitting position next to her. "Eh? What are you talking about?"  
"Nothing," she said quietly, and Yaten felt her closing like a flower  
at night. It made him feel sad... not just her sadness, though, but some  
melancholy of his own at losing this contact with her.   
He backed off. "Whatever," he yawned. "I'm glad *some*one thinks  
we're doing well..."  
With the sudden movement of a striking snake, Minako snatched the  
coffee cup from his extended hand. He blinked as she scolded him. "What do  
you MEAN!? You guys are amazing, don't you know that!?" The reprimanding  
spark in her voice caught Yaten's attention, even if the words were no more  
than any fan said in all those frustrating letters. In any case, at least her  
mind was opening again, even if it was burning red with outrage.  
This was fun, trying to figure out what was behind her mood shifts,  
and Yaten felt eager to continue the game. He snatched back the coffee cup,  
giving her a daring look.   
"Don't you know how much everyone adores you guys?!" she continued to  
rant. Her voice built up toward a fever pitch. "It's totally what I want to  
be, you know, to have everyone love me-- What have you guys got to complain  
about? YOU'RE not the little nobody who's stuck in nowheresville. You're  
famous! I'd give anything to be doing EXACTLY what you're doing, every last  
bit of it... I'd give anything to BE you!"  
"..IKENAI!!"  
Coffee splashed to the ground, spreading a slow, dark stain against  
the pavement, eerily thick in the green light. Two frozen figures in an  
alleyway gaped with mirroring expressions... both shocked at the intensity of  
Yaten's outburst. Minako was stunned, Yaten horrified, at the sudden burst of  
emotion and energy that seemed to rise up out of nowhere to combat those  
too-enthusiastic words. Yaten had no idea that he'd been pushed that far,  
that he even had the power to shout so loudly. He clutched at his own throat,  
blinking several times, as Minako barely blinked at all.  
"...Do... Doshite?" finally escaped from Minako's mouth, sounding weak  
and frightened.  
His heart pounding erratically, Yaten hastily stood up and turned to  
go. "You don't want this," he said as coldly as he could. "Trust me.  
Minako." At the sound of her name from his lips, he shivered.  
He walked away, trying to control the insane leaping inside his chest.  
Minako's voice echoed past him, but this time it felt different, felt  
artificial somehow. "Oh yeah?" she hollered. "Well, you just watch me! I'm  
gonna be the biggest star there is! Number One in the Nation, Aino Minako,  
volleyball champion, idol singer, and..." The list of statistics faded into  
the background and Yaten ran off through the darkness of the city streets.  
  
**  
  
Present Day, Star Castle  
  
"If we were on Earth..." drawled Yaten, after taking a long swig from  
his glass.  
Taiki and Seiya half-groaned, half-nodded, raising their glasses to  
toast that assertion. They'd been talking and drinking for a little while,  
and Yaten's quarters were littered with empty flasks and canisters of food.  
The brown wall panels looked that much fuzzier after the alcohol, and while  
none of the three were dangerously intoxicated, they were all a little sillier  
than usual. And when the Starlights relaxed and got silly, their conversation  
inevitably turned in one direction.  
"On Earth," Seiya echoed. "Damn. Do you guys remember showing up at  
school that morning?" A ring of grunting yeses resounded. Seiya was sprawled  
on a long couch, grinning wickedly and turning sharp, amused eyes at the  
others. Taiki sat straight up in a chair, but kept breaking into giggles  
every other second, and Yaten was curled up tensely, sitting on his bed.  
"Tsukimi dumplings. Yum." Seiya licked his lips.  
"I'm telling on you, Seiya." Yaten threw a pillow in his direction.  
Taiki giggled. "Attack of the fan club cards." Then, in a squeaky  
voice: "Ano, ne..."  
"Yoo hoo!" Yaten shouted, waving hysterically. "Yaten-kuuun! Sit right  
heeeere!"  
"Oh, stars..." Seiya doubled over laughing. "Minako-chan was so  
unbelievable."  
"Out of control," agreed Taiki between "tee hee"s.  
"Okay." Yaten slammed his hand on the headboard of his bed to get his  
friends' attention. "Stupidest thing we ever did as idols."  
"You want that in alphabetical or chronological order?" Taiki  
grinned.  
"Idol cops!" volunteered Seiya.  
But Taiki won the day. After gulping down another shot, he rose to  
his feet slowly, stood very still, and then struck a fighting pose. "Chou  
Blue! Chou Red!"  
The other two Lights nearly fell over. "That... was... the...  
greatest!" Yaten gasped as Taiki bowed and thanked the Academy. A mention of  
Seiya's wanna-be monster scare sent them into new rounds of hysterics, and  
Yaten wiped tears from his eyes. "Nice try anyway, Seiya!"  
Seiya muttered some choice words about his botched prank, and wandered  
to other memories of that weekend. "Odango in her bathing suit."  
"Seiya no hentai!" Yaten burst out.  
"Oh, yeah," Taiki said, rolling his eyes. "As if you weren't eating  
it up. Minako kowaaai!"   
"You're downright scary when you do that girl voice," muttered Yaten  
as Seiya fell off the couch and scrambled back upright, chortling at that  
comment still.  
"My turn," said the dark-haired Starlight, when he could catch his  
breath. "Cutest girl on Earth. My vote's for..."  
"Odango," Taiki and Yaten intoned flatly.  
"Well, she was!" insisted Seiya, pouting. "Taiki, your turn."  
Once more, Taiki made a show of getting up, putting his hand on his  
heart, and assuming his most solemn expression. "In my humble opinion," he  
asserted, while the others shouted at him to get on with it, "the most  
fabulous example of feminine charm, grace, and style in the pantheon of lovely  
ladies we became acquainted with..." He went on for a while, occasionally  
stumbling on a word, while Yaten and Seiya faked elaborate death scenes in the  
background.   
"...is..."   
Taiki waited for complete silence. Then he cleared his throat and  
said in a very small voice, "...Haruka."  
The room burst into utter chaos.   
When the giggles had finally died down, Seiya rubbed his eyes and  
said, "Since we ALL know what Yaten's gonna say, and I'm beat, I move we  
adjourn this meeting of..."  
Yaten stood up on the bed. "Hey! What was that?"  
"I'm with you there," Taiki said, stumbling towards the door.  
"'Scuse me!"  
"Night, Yat..."  
"HOLD IT!!!"  
The screech resounded off the ceiling, and Seiya and Taiki stopped in  
their tracks. "Omae-tachi..." growled Yaten. "If you both know what I was  
gonna say, why don't you clue me in? Hmmmmm?"  
Seiya and Taiki stifled giggles.  
"Come ON!" Yaten's snarls half-faded into whines. "What are you guys  
thinking?" His shoulders tensed.  
Taiki doubled over in a fit of laughter. "Poor helpless, hopeless  
Yaten..."  
"I've just about had it with you!" warned Yaten, making a fist.  
Still the others giggled on. "What could..." His eyes widened. "Hey, Luna  
was a cat, okay?"  
The pair blinked. "Luna?"  
A moment of silence, and then more laughter. "Clueless!!!"  
Yaten felt sick. "All right, you two, get... outta... my... rooooom!"  
He flailed his arms like a madman, and the others acquiesced, giggling all the  
way.  
"Night, Yaten... hee hee hee hee..."   
"Poor Yaten..."  
"...we're going, we're going..."  
"Bye bye... woo hoo, scary..."  
And just before they shut the door, someone called out, "Minako  
kowaiiiiiiiiii!"  
  
Yaten sunk back to a sitting position and stared at the door for  
several hours.  
  
**  
  
Recently, Star Castle  
  
A rather stout chambermaid hummed to herself as she dusted off Yaten's  
dresser. Reaching behind it, she felt something between the drawers and the  
wall that didn't belong-- something wedged snugly in there. Confused, and  
more than a little curious, she drew it out. "Yaten Kou's Personal Journal,"  
she read out loud to the empty room.  
The nosy old woman couldn't help herself. Taking a seat on the nearby  
couch, she flipped through the pages and began to read.  
  
Tonight I observed something that wasn't  
meant for my eyes. I had walked into the   
Princess's chambers to retrieve a paper that I'd  
left there after discussing it with Seiya, and I  
was in the next room when it took place. There   
was only a half-draped curtain between me and   
her dressing room, and by the time I realized   
what I was going to witness, it was too late   
to leave. So I watched.  
The princess was sitting on a small   
bench, facing slightly sideways, her robes loose   
and draping over her legs unceremoniously.   
She'd been taking down her hair, pin by pin...  
Kakyuu-hime has unbelievably gorgeous hair,   
small red waves that fall neverending into a sea  
at her feet when she lets it down. As the   
waterfall splashed in sequence, I was struck by   
her beauty and by the look on her face... such   
weariness, and a sadness I never get to see in   
daily palace life. I knew right then I was   
intruding on a private moment.  
  
The maid looked up briefly, trying to reconcile this sensitive, scholarly  
Yaten with the boyish prankster she'd watched grow up, and read on.  
  
Seiya came in the door then, looking   
equally tired, as though his six feet of height   
were about to crumple in on him. He placed a   
hand briefly on the Princess's shoulder, and   
continued on his way. He was almost at the  
curtain (and I was almost discovered!) before he  
stopped, looked back, and noticed the look on   
her face. "Must be a full moon," he joked,   
giving a bit of a smile. In the following   
instant, he realized how foreign that idiom   
sounded to her, and turned away again,  
whereas she looked up at him with a sudden   
intensity.  
"Fighter."  
He stopped short, and I felt my heart   
skip a beat with his. Kakyuu-hime always called   
Taiki and me by our formal names, but since   
we've returned, she nearly always addressed   
Seiya less formally. She had serious questions   
on her mind tonight.  
Slowly, achingly, he turned back to her.   
All imperial flair-- more *flare*-- she   
continued. "Do you miss her that much?"   
"Kakyuu." His voice broke, and he   
strode rapidly to her chair, kneeling beside her   
and bowing his head in the stance of a repentant   
sinner. She put her hands forth, and he buried   
his face in them, weeping and kissing them   
repeatedly.  
"Seiya," she continued in a gentler   
tone, lifting his face so his eyes could not   
escape her gaze. He flinched at the probing   
stare. "I need to know, Seiya," she said   
levelly. "Do you truly want to be my consort?   
Seiya, do you love me?"  
Silence dragged on forever. I cursed   
myself for existing and ruining this moment,   
even if they didn't realize it. How I wished I   
could close my eyes and open them again   
somewhere else.  
"When our planet was destroyed," Seiya   
began, gaining some confidence, "we had nowhere   
to go, but to find you." His hands found hers.   
"And that search took us to Earth, where we   
found our enemy and our new allies before we   
found you. But for so long even before that, we   
were traveling the world looking for you.   
Sending our message out over the airwaves,   
through concerts and albums and everything we   
could use. Every night, every concert, was   
about you. But you still didn't appear.  
"And then I met Odango, and she had this   
light about her that was so strange and so   
beautiful. I wondered, could it be you? Surely   
two people in the universe couldn't have that   
same sparkle. And I tried to mention it to her,   
to hint, so that you might realize that I knew   
it was you, and reveal yourself to me. But it   
wasn't you. She wasn't you.   
"We were all so tired. We'd been   
searching and searching, and you didn't appear.   
It was like the nights had grown steadily   
darker, over all those months. Kakyuu, we   
needed..."  
His voice broke again. I felt myself   
choke too. I don't think I'll ever forget the   
tone of his voice when he continued.  
"We needed a reason to hope. We had to   
start to believe in these people of Earth, to   
give our hearts and minds to them. Or else we'd   
be empty. We'd have no more energy to search   
for you. So in order to survive, I... I had to   
stop seeing Odango as just a target or a   
container, that could possibly hold the star I   
was looking for. I had to start seeing her as a   
human, a star of her own. And when that   
happened, I fell in love with her."  
The Princess flinched, but remained   
silent. Seiya dropped his head for a minute,   
then rose to his feet, looking down at her   
passionately.  
"Don't you see? We thought you might be   
dead! Even Yaten couldn't feel your presence in   
the galaxy. And Odango taught me that I had to   
give my heart to the living. I knew I would   
fall in love with her if I let myself, so I   
didn't. For a long time. But that was killing   
me too, because without listening to my   
feelings, *I* wasn't human anymore!" His tone   
reached a violent peak, and I saw fear in   
Kakyuu's eyes for the first time. What she was   
afraid of, I couldn't quite sense. The violence   
in his voice, or the truth of his words?  
"I loved her so much. But she didn't   
feel the same. She had a love already, and as   
jealous as I was, I'd never destroy that.   
Because I, too, had a true love. And I was   
destined to return to her, no matter what   
happened."  
"Seiya." The Princess spoke,   
hesitantly, for the first time since he'd began   
his story. He began to speak again, and she   
attempted to cut him off. "You don't need..."  
"No, there's more," he said. "There was   
a night-- oh, stars, that night breaks my heart   
every time I think of it. I did something...   
that reminded her of her lover... and she was   
crying, crying how she wanted to see him. And I   
took her by the shoulders... and I said to her,   
'Am I not good enough?'"   
Another moment of silence. Then Seiya   
repeated the phrase. Kakyuu was once again   
shocked into silence.  
"And this is what I need you to see, my   
star. I asked her that question because I was   
fighting fate. By that time, you had returned,   
but what is a man to do when his heart has moved   
on and then his first love comes back from the   
dead? I wanted to take my heart and flee the   
conflict... just grab her and run far away from   
all the turmoil of your return. You know that   
it wouldn't have worked, don't you?" He sat on   
the bench beside her now, taking her hands. "I   
asked her that question-- am I not good enough?   
--because I wanted her to say that yes, I was an   
agreeable substitution. The consolation prize   
for her lost love. Because that's what she was   
to me. I thought I could deny that-- she and I   
would go away, I wouldn't have to deal with   
feelings for a former love. I should have known   
though, I should have known. I loved Odango   
when I thought you were gone. But I loved her   
because the glitter in her star reminded me of   
you. And now that you're with me, no one could   
ever-- ever-- replace you!" Crumpling into   
tears once more, he locked his arms tight around   
her waist, crying into her shoulder. From my   
spot, I could see the look on her face of   
relief, but also of confusion somehow. As if   
she'd realized that this was a part of his life   
she'd never be able to understand.  
  
**  
  
Juuban  
  
"Check out these totally cute guys!" Rei enthused, wielding a copy of  
Ai Ai Idol like it was her battle flag. "Aren't they incredibly cool and  
gorgeous?"  
There was no response.  
She waved the paper again. "Don't you guys think so?"  
Still silence.  
Rei double-checked all the parameters. They were hanging at the Crown  
Cafe-- check; there were five teenage girls at the table-- check; they'd all  
downed hot fudge sundaes and were loaded with sugar-- check. So what was  
wrong with this picture? The priestess half-clutched a spirit ward-- but  
there didn't seem to be any evil spirits around. No youmas, daemons, or  
anything of the sort draining energy. So what else could be wrong?  
Looking around quickly, she finally stopped short at the sight of  
Makoto smiling wryly at her. The brunette lifted on hand to guide Rei's  
outstretched arm back onto the table. "Forget it, Rei-chan," she declared  
with a bored air.  
"Wha--?" Rei let out a disappointed whine. She'd been so eager to  
share these adorable new discoveries with the gang! In defiance of Makoto's  
knowing smile, a new wave of determination flooded through the raven-haired  
teen. She stood up, leaned over the table, and placed the magazine directly  
in front of Usagi's face. "Usagi?" she began.  
But the blonde was slurping on her sixth milkshake, playing with the  
silver ring on her finger and humming to herself slightly. "Told ya," Makoto  
intoned. "Now that Mamoru-san's back, she won't even look at another guy."  
Rei rolled her eyes in annoyance, and shoved her magazine in front of  
Ami's face. "Won't work," Makoto predicted. "Ami-chan likes guys enough, but  
she'll turn blue in the face before she ever admits to it." Rei was about to  
show Makoto just what she thought of her narration, when a slight glow from  
behind the magazine caught her eye.   
Ami might not have been blue in the face, but she was certainly bright  
red. She stammered an apology and buried her face in her book. Rei sighed in  
defeat. "At least tell me what YOU think of these guys," she said, collapsing  
back down and handing the magazine to Makoto.  
To her relief, the tall girl squealed. "Hiroshi-kun is so cool!"   
"Well, at least we have each other," Rei grinned and leaned over the  
page.  
"You bet!" Makoto winked. "You and me, boy-hunting pals till the end.  
And don't forget Min.." Rei nodded and started to say the name too, but both  
their words trailed off as they looked across the table. Rei and Minako  
blinked, rubbed their eyes, and looked again.  
The only thing missing was a wind machine and soft pink lights.  
Minako was idly playing with the straw in her drink, completely oblivious to  
reality. Her head was slightly tilted to the left and up, as if she was  
staring at something right above Rei's head, but miles beyond her. A  
half-smile danced around the edges of her mouth, shifting from wistful to  
gleeful with the moving patterns of light from the window. Something even  
more mysterious was floating in her eyes, but one thing was for sure-- those  
eyes didn't even see Rei or her fan magazine. Minako was spaced out, even for  
Minako.  
"Behhhhh." Rei stuck her tongue out at Minako and contorted her face  
into a series of ridiculous expressions.  
"Yoo-hoo!" Mako waved her hands furiously in Minako's face.  
Rei and Makoto looked at each other. "What on earth?!"  
"She's gone!"  
"Well, we've always known that about Minako-chan." Rei couldn't  
resist the offhand remark.  
"Maybe..." Makoto seemed to ponder a sudden thought.   
Rei pestered her. "Maybe what? Maybe what?"  
Makoto began slowly. "Do you suppose... it's possible... she's got a  
secret... BOYFRIEND?"  
Gaping, Rei turned back to examine the space cadet. At that moment, a  
bit of wind rustled the plants outside the windowsill, and bent the light  
subtly as it filtered through the leaves. A strange shadow fell on Minako's  
face, softening her features, making the curves of her cheeks and lips that  
much sweeter, the long wave of her hair that much finer. In that moment, Rei  
thought it was VERY possible.  
She turned back to her friend, still gaping and speechless. "It's the  
only explanation," Makoto went on. "I mean, really, twice in one week,  
something's got to be going..."  
"TWICE!?"  
Makoto cringed visibly. Oops.  
Rei revved into full attack mode. "What do you know that I don't  
know, Mako-chan? Spill it!!!"  
"All right, all right!" Makoto made like the Cowardly Lion, waving  
her hands frantically to avoid the barking onslaught of the smaller girl.  
"Well, you see, erm, she was at my place and... wha?"  
A sudden pressure on her other side caused Makoto to stop and turn her  
head trepidatiously. "Ano... Ami-chan, if you want to look at the magazine,  
go ahead, but you don't need to get quite so close, do you?"  
The guilty genius looked up to see Makoto's and Rei's shocked stares,  
and promptly turned bright red again. "Gomen nasai!"  
  
**  
  
Six months ago, Juuban  
  
"Seiya no baka!"  
Yaten slammed the door furiously. He was sick, tired, and disgusted.  
"How 'bout 'Congratulations, Seiya, on winning that exciting softball  
game, you really did a great job'?" Seiya snapped back. "Or is that too much  
for you?" He sat down on the couch and started fiddling idly with a  
drumstick.  
"That's just like you," Yaten fumed. "Always thinking of yourself--  
no, scratch that, you're always thinking of that Tsukino Usagi and never  
thinking about our mission!" He kicked a chair, hard, knocking it over  
sideways. It hit the ground with a satisfying thud. "No wonder the Princess  
isn't showing up!"  
"Don't you dare blame me for that!" Seiya growled, brandishing the  
drumstick. "I've been working as hard as the rest of you. It's not my fault.  
Just because I want to have some fun in between concerts like a normal person.  
I'm not the one who's stomping around, miserable!"  
"You're NOT a normal person!" Clenching his fists, Yaten leaned  
forward against the couch. He stood now behind Seiya, practically shouting in  
his ear. "You're a Starlight, and we're on a mission! Come on, Seiya, which  
group means more to you anyway, us, or your precious softball team with your  
pretty little rabbit girl?"  
"Leave her out of this!" Seiya wheeled to face his partner, looking  
daggers at him. "She's got nothing to do with this. You've got no idea what  
it's like to be in love!"  
Yaten gasped. Of course he knew, but hearing Seiya admit it... "Have  
you forgotten all about the Princess?"  
"Of course not!" Dark features flashed with outrage and sadness.  
"But she's not here, and let's face it, we might not EVER find her."  
Betrayal swam in Yaten's shallow eyes. "How can you give up hope that  
easily?"  
"I'm not giving up hope-- I'm facing facts," insisted Seiya levelly, a  
tone that made Yaten feel he was being slowly and methodically scraped along  
fields of gravel. "Come on, Yaten-- can you feel her at all?" And now his  
head was caving in... "Can you or can't you?" Pressure. "Come on! Yes or  
no?"  
"...no..." The admission squeaked out, and Yaten immediately hated  
himself for admitting it, for being unable to sense her star in the first  
place, for ever letting her out of his sight. He took the remaining pieces of  
his pride and lashed out with them, like a whip. "But-"  
"But nothing!" Another failed blow, and Yaten felt as if he'd been  
thrown against a wall by his own strength. "She's gone! She could be--"  
"--Don't say it!" Yaten pleaded, losing control of his voice.   
His begging eyes pacified Seiya slightly. "Well, she could be. You  
could always feel her before, if she was close by."  
"I didn't feel her star disappear," Yaten insisted. "She's still  
alive."  
"How do you know for sure? Maybe you weren't paying attention."  
That was the lowest of the low... accusing him of looking the other  
way while the Princess was kidnapped. "I'd know, I tell you!" And then,  
because he knew it'd hurt, "Maybe you're the one who slipped up back home,  
when you let Galaxia through our defenses! If it hadn't been for your lousy  
mistakes..."  
"Does it matter!?" Seiya screeched, having hit the boiling point.  
Tears were flowing freely now down his contorted face. "Does it even matter  
anymore?" Anger and despair stabbed Yaten over and over again in his throat  
and seemingly hollow chest, but his own frustration flared its bitter shield  
as Seiya went on. "We're alone!! We've been alone since we arrived! We've  
been trapped in this mission with no end in sight, unable to do anything but  
search for her-- and fail--" Seiya punctuated each word with a jab into the  
cushions with his drumstick. "Every-- single-- time!"  
Yaten was incredulous. "So you just decide you're not gonna take it  
anymore, is that it? You're gonna have your fun, forget the Princess, forget  
our mission--"  
"Damn it, Yaten, I've mourned enough! I've been miserable since the  
day we started this." Yaten's eyes widened, and then narrowed in sudden  
understanding and disgust. "You're going to deny me my happiness?"  
"I'm already denying mine!"   
And for the first time since they'd entered the room, there was a true  
silence.  
Yaten seethed, looking up through bloodshot eyes. Fists trembled.  
And when he spoke, his voice was icy. "You think you're the only one who's  
hurting? You think you're the only one who's had to sacrifice their own life  
for the sake of the mission? Do you truly believe you're the only one of us  
who wants to be doing more than stomping around, playing teen idol, and  
feeling like a failure? Well, I've got news for you, Seiya. I hurt too. I  
hurt too!"   
"Yaten..." breathed Seiya in surprise. But his fellow Light was  
already out the door.  
  
Wiping his eyes on the cuff of his sleeve, Yaten stormed down the  
street. How dare he. How dare he! sang the voice in his mind, over and over  
as if mocking him. He nearly tripped over a three-year-old-girl who stared  
after him as he went on, not even noticing she was there. Teenagers shouted  
in excitement, but they couldn't touch him. Completely alone, he raged, a  
one-man hurricane tearing up the pavement.   
Emotions swirled all around him, shock, surprise, contentment, fear,  
distrust, everything that everyone on the street was feeling. He didn't  
acknowledge them, but at the same time he didn't push them out-- they were  
just feelings, not people, just different colors that built up beneath him and  
buoyed his own confusion and anger up past the floodlines. He felt as though  
he was drowning in a thick stew, desperately trying to fight his way to the  
surface.  
And then, like a rope swung down from the heavens, the clarion call of  
a kindred sadness cried out to him. Orange and glowing, and so familiar...  
He grabbed onto it with a leap of his saddened heart. Someone was feeling the  
same way he was. Someone close by!   
Stopping in mid-step, Yaten focused, pushed out all the rushing  
energies around him, and closed his empathetic sense around that one line.  
Carefully, he followed it, around the corner and toward a small patch of grass  
near a children's playground. His face brightened. There was somebody there,  
and above the throng of people he could make out a melancholy voice.   
"...another one, Artemis. I'm just sick of it always interfering. If  
I ever get to another audition, they're going to know me as the no-show  
girl..."  
A white cat scampered suddenly off into the bushes, and the girl (whom  
Yaten now recognized) looked up in surprise. "Oh... Yaten-kun!" Minako said  
as brightly as she could, trying to hide her puffy, tear-stained face.  
"Yo." Yaten sat down beside her and was instantly aware of a certain  
calm, like a pink sunrise creeping along the edge of the horizon. He felt the  
tense muscles in his face relax slowly. "So how's the star search going?" he  
said. The words made them both wince.  
"Could be better. Can't I just join you guys and be the fourth  
Light?" she joked.  
Why was each sentence coming out so painfully? He wrinkled his nose  
at her. "Why would you want that?"  
"Oh, a lot of reasons." A hint of a smile played across her face,  
surprising Yaten. "You're real stars. You really shine-- but what I like best  
is, even when you're shining as a group, you're each stars yourselves. You  
can be part of a group, and be yourself, at the same time. You're really  
special that way."  
Yaten suddenly had the feeling he was on a speedboat, the motor  
vibrating violently under the deck as he steered blindly through a dark  
tunnel. The wind was so strong. "Are we..?" he wondered breathlessly.  
She nodded, tilting her head sideways and leaning on her folded arms  
as she had that other night. "I think that's really important, don't you?"  
  
(You're going to deny me my happiness?)  
  
"No!" Yaten blurted, trying desperately to stop the light show  
flashing back and forth in the endless tunnel. "When you're in a group, it's  
the group that's important, not you. You're just a part of it. Any other way  
won't get the job done!"  
She was shaking her head. "You're wrong," she answered finally, in a  
low voice that trembled ever so slightly. And once again Yaten felt the  
strong cord of her emotion matching his own, making all his masks and barriers  
as transparent as hers were to his empathetic eye.  
She went on. "I can't believe in something like that. If you're in a  
group that stifles you, then it's not a good group. You have to keep your own  
dreams alive, or you'll never be able to help them anyway."  
"But sometimes if you act on your own, it's bad for the group. You  
won't get where you're going. You gotta make some sacrifices."  
"What, sacrifice yourself? Nobody wants you to do that. Nobody who  
really cares about you."  
The Princess cares. Doesn't she? "Sometimes there's something more  
important, and you can't do whatever you want!"  
Minako wasn't sure what caused this reaction, but she didn't  
appreciate being yelled at. Not tonight. Not after another rejection. Not  
after her dream was that much farther from her reach. "How would you know?  
You've got everything. You're an idol. You can do whatever you want."   
Whatever I want... "And you can't? At least you don't have to deal  
with the rest of the package. You're free!"  
"Free?" she echoed in horror, and then again, as if she was mocking  
the word. "I'm more of a prisoner than you'll ever be. I'm trapped!"  
"You think so? I'd give anything to be that thing you hate so much.  
You're so selfish!"  
"You don't know the first thing about me, and you don't know what I've  
given up already! What have you ever given up?" Raging red now, her hair  
tearing about her, a throaty, scratchy scream. "You wanna talk about  
sacrifice? You don't know the meaning of sacrifice!"  
Somewhere in the realm of the mind, two painfully bright colors merged  
and exploded into white.  
Yaten hung his head. Two clenched fists scraped the ground, uprooting  
two clumps of grass, as he kneeled, knees facing Minako's, but hiding his face  
beneath a sheath of long silver-blond hair. His whole body trembled.  
Minako stared. Her blue eyes quivered. He'd just crumpled before  
her, deflated like a dying balloon. Her head dropped too, in shame and  
dismay, and she stared blankly at the crux where the curves of their  
not-quite-touching knees made a diamond of empty space. "...I'm sorry,  
Yaten," she breathed, and the words sounded pitifully weak and insufficient.   
"No," came the equally soft reply, "I'm sorry..."  
"I shouldn't have..."  
"..said all that..."  
A sniffle.  
"There are really some things..."  
"...I just shouldn't say..."  
A gray, hesitant silence quavered for a long, whirling moment.  
Still they sat, facing each other, heads hung low so that the gold and  
silver clouds of hair were barely touching, wrapped in an invisible cloak  
woven of melancholy and of something else, something stranger and more new.  
It was only in retrospect that either of them remembered finishing each  
other's sentences, or that her hands had closed over his tightened fists.  
Minako just stared into the dirt, and as for Yaten, he wasn't seeing anything  
at all... but enveloped in Minako's emotion, trying to figure out how he was  
able to not just sense her feelings, but meld with them somehow. Immersed in  
this puzzle, he didn't notice a single tear slide down his nose and make a  
small, dark stain in the patch of dust where Minako's eyes were focused.  
Those eyes widened at the sudden change of color where they were  
staring, and she looked up again. "Yaten.. you're crying?" she gasped, inches  
from his lowered head.  
Her voice, more solid and less breathy than her earlier apology, shook  
Yaten out of it. He attempted to push her emotion away, stuck his tongue out,  
grinned, and looked up, saying, "So, you are too. So wha.."  
When his head raised to meet her gaze, the teasing expression slid off  
his face like water, and he lost his words. He felt assaulted by huge blue  
eyes, staring through him. Dry lips slightly parted, and flushed cheeks still  
stained from crying. All less than an inch from his own tear-stained features.  
So very, very close. And her emotions were still melting into his, insisting  
that they had a place deeper within him than any other sensation his  
empathetic soul had experienced, deep in the core where he locked his own  
feelings. Yaten felt as if he were being drawn through a loom, pulled apart,  
strung together, smoothed over, completed. Bound to her.  
Grasping her hands with a slight pressure, he leaned forward, and  
groaning, nearly obsessively, he pulled her closer, kissing her for a long,  
intense moment. He felt as though she were diffusing into him, sweet, sweet  
lips going deeper than his mouth, caressing his bones, kissing his very mind.  
The tense fists let go their rooted positions and became claws, clutching at  
her soft hair, which seemed to tease and slip away just as it brushed against  
his trembling fingers. She was so warm, so warm and sweet and real, and he  
kissed the sides and the edges of her mouth, feeling sure that he was turning  
to liquid, that he'd melt away. For the first time in his life, Yaten Kou,  
the born empath who felt within him the lives of every star in the heavens,  
was driven mindless, completely overwhelmed by sensation.   
Kissing her mouth repeatedly, softer and shorter, he felt the ground  
come to a stop beneath him. Her lips were eager, continuing to turn upwards  
for more, but the dull weight he'd momentarily thrown off was settling back  
onto his shoulders. Treasuring the feel of her skin in those final moments,  
he finally let his mouth and hands trail away.  
Minako breathed in short, stuttering gasps. What kisses those had  
been, what strange visions of stars were in her mind! Flushed but glowing,  
she smiled softly, focusing for some reason on the movement of her lips. Were  
they different, after such kissing? Did they move differently? What would  
happen to those lips now? She looked as every girl does after being  
unexpectedly kissed into dizziness. Absolutely radiant. Because of this,  
Yaten was terrified.  
In horror, he stared blankly at the girl's reaction. There it was,  
the monster, expectation. Lit by hope and an irresistible charm, a charm she  
didn't even know she was radiating, which made him want to touch her face, to  
give her the hundreds of kisses he could feel just behind his lips, and  
discover a thousand others he didn't even know he had... but the rest of his  
life was slowly coming into focus again, the grass, the swingset behind her,  
the fence and the street, and somewhere, blocks away, a room where his two  
partners were awaiting him. And perhaps even further, a Princess in hiding  
from a dead planet...  
"I can't do this," he whispered, shaking his head. She cracked like  
glass, and he felt every shard fall, cutting himself on her stunned pieces.  
He got to his feet, missing the touch of her hands desperately. And he shook  
his head again, several times, quickly. Hoarsely, he stuttered, "This... is  
something I can't do." Feeling as though he were falling, he ran in the other  
direction.   
She didn't call out to him, which made it easier to run away. But her  
sensations didn't fade, as he expected them to, when the distance between them  
widened. Still they burned on, the orange cord of her emotion transmuted into  
a coil, as of a guitar string or a snake, powerful and sparking. He choked on  
the smoke and ran on.  
  
"I hate this place."  
Once again, Yaten slammed the door. "We're wasting time." Seiya and  
Taiki looked up. "We need to cut the chit-chat--" he swept by a small table,  
knocking over a pile of magazines-- "cut the idol bit--" --he stepped firmly  
on his own face on one of the scattered magazine covers-- "cut the flirting--"  
a pointed glance his way set Seiya off, and he rose with a face full of rage.  
Taiki pacified him with a glance-- "find the Princess, and get out of here!"  
Yaten sat down abruptly to signal the end of his tirade.  
At bit of silence. Then, strangely enough, the next sound was  
laughter. "Well, what's with you?" Seiya chuckled, ignoring Yaten's glares.  
"You sound almost as if something's gotten to you!" Rising, he circled round  
Yaten's chair and put a hand on the peeved rock star's shoulder. "Come on,  
you can tell me," Seiya crooned patronizingly. "Did something upset poor  
little Yaten? Make him afraid he might be HAPPY one of these days?"  
"Shut up!" stammered Yaten, pushing Seiya away with as much power as  
he could muster. Seiya smirked. Luckily, the third and most level-headed  
Light was able to take quick control of the situation.  
"All right, you two," he began, after clearing his throat. "Yaten is  
right-- we need a new plan. We've been doing nothing but play catch-up with  
Galaxia, and trying to keep these other Sailor Soldiers out of trouble." He  
pushed his glasses up on his nose and paced like an army general. "Now.  
We've got this airplane gig for the fan club tomorrow night. It's a two level  
plane, and we should have some time to plan our strategy then. Until then,  
both of you cool down and start thinking up new ways to get the Princess's  
attention. Our allegiance is to her, remember?" Like sheepish schoolboys,  
the two nodded. "All right then. We'll discuss it during the ride, and  
adjust our strategies afterwards."  
  
As it turned out, that very airplane ride made the adjustments for  
them.   
"We don't run away! Venus Crystal Power... Make Up!"  
  
**  
  
Present day, Star Castle  
  
The chambermaid started as a friend's voice called her name.  
"C--coming!" she stuttered, and left the room in a sudden fright of getting  
caught. Maids are never the most resourceful criminals, however, and she  
dropped the book on the floor. It opened to the very last page that had been  
written on, and had she picked up the journal again, she might have noticed  
that the ink was still wet...  
  
"It's my dream," she'd said.   
  
I didn't have a dream. I never had the  
time or space to find my dream. That was  
what being a Sailor Soldier was all about.   
How could she, a Sailor Soldier too,   
how could she stand there with that  
glowing face and tell me SHE had a dream?   
"Soldiers have missions. We don't   
have dreams," I slammed her against   
the wall, with my words harder than   
with my arms, but I was the one who   
felt I was being crucified on concrete.   
She was still glowing, damn her.   
  
I wonder when it was that I   
realized she was my dream?  
  
**  
  
Star Castle Throne Room  
  
Yaten bowed formally, dropping to his knees and lowering his head.  
"Princess." But the defiant eyes twinkled upward to search her face.  
"Healer," Kakyuu said in a smooth tone from her throne.  
He waited for her to allow him to rise. When she said nothing, he  
shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. Still she remained silent. Was  
she waiting for him to speak first? That was not royal protocol. But still,  
the Princess had an unsettling habit of following her intuitions instead of  
the rule books. In fact, he was counting on it.  
"I come to request a..." Boon? Leave? Favor? What *was* he asking  
for? "...to make a request of your Majesty."  
She was silent still. Finally, lifting her head slightly, she said,  
"What sort of request?"  
Yaten was about to answer when he felt the world collapsing beneath  
him. He had a sudden vision of chains breaking, of generations melting away.  
His stomach sank into his knees. Was that what he was doing, after all?  
Throwing away his home just as Galaxia had thrown it away? And after he'd  
fought so hard to get it back?  
He bit his lip, a movement that didn't go unnoticed. "What is  
troubling you, Healer?" Kakyuu asked, shivering from the fear he was  
emanating.  
"I wish--" He choked, swallowed hard, winced. His mouth opened  
again, but only an empty cough came out, no words. Couldn't Kakyuu hear how  
loud his head and heart were pounding? It wasn't respectful at all! Snapping  
his head upwards, green mist coming into bright focus, he heard the words  
spill out. "I wish to leave your services!"  
She looked like she'd been rammed with an iron rod. The color left  
her face; it seemed she might cave in. Yaten felt as though he'd vomited all  
over the sacred coronation robes. He vainly attempted to cover his mouth with  
his hand, but the damn thing would not leave the floor. He'd said it. He'd  
said it.  
The Princess's expression calmed then, and she rose, pacing slightly  
before her throne. "This is... quite unexpected, Healer," she said at last.  
"Why do you wish to do this?"  
He could have sworn he heard her voice tremble a little. "Ummm," he  
began. Terribly eloquent. Idiocy-- royal idiocy! How could he get it come  
out right? His poor Princess, who'd been through so much just to get back  
home with her beloved people and her three loyal protectors, and now she'd  
lose one? What kind of an ungrateful idiot was he? How could he make her  
understand? How could he tell her that he felt his life was no longer here,  
that he wished to return to Earth to explore the part of his soul that he'd  
left there?  
Then, with a gulp, he realized he'd just told her.  
This time his fingers did fly to his mouth... hands and face turned  
ashen, and shaking. She stood, pierced by his unintentional explosion of  
words, staring down at him with a look that spoke chapters of betrayal and  
confusion. He tried hard to read her face, but not her mind. Never her mind.  
Yaten put up his strongest possible blockade, to keep from invading the sacred  
privacy of his Princess's thoughts and feelings. He lowered his head again.  
"So," she began, in the hollow tone of one on her deathbed, "you too  
cannot let it go." A certain exchange flew through both their memories-- one  
experienced, one eavesdropped on-- as he realized exactly why this had cut her  
so deeply. "Healer, I have never and still do not understand this all. You  
come to a place where battles rage, after losing the only home you ever knew  
and the world you grew up in, and you are subjected to endless trials in a  
strange place. We finally return home where we belong, where we are loved and  
accepted, where the shadows of war will no longer haunt us but the beauty of  
rebirth is with us ever. And still, you want to return?"  
Little teardrops itched in the corners of Yaten's eyes. Closing them  
tightly, he listened to the swordstrokes of her imperious tone.  
"This is a place that needs you. Shinsei benefits daily from your  
guidance, and Fighter and Maker and I value and treasure your comradeship.  
This planet, and this Star Castle, is a place where you will always be  
welcome. You will always have the love and support you need. Your future is  
certain here, and you will not find that any other place in the universe. You  
will most likely end up alone and hungry for home. I am somewhat older than  
you, Healer, and I have watched you grow. I know where you will end up  
successful and sure. Here. With us."  
"I... understand," Yaten whispered hoarsely, tears trickling downward  
like persistent termites across his cheeks. He'd tried, but he'd failed. His  
eyes squeezed hard to hold the remaining tears in, and he choked. "I thank  
your Majesty for hearing my request, even if you deni..."  
A gentle pressure on his shoulders stopped him. Looking up  
tremulously, he found himself staring into the Princess's face... *smiling*  
face. She'd kneeled down in front of him, her hands blessing both his  
shoulders like a priest and a sinner redeemed.  
"I grant your request," she said. As he gasped, she went on. "I  
shall pray for you and miss you daily, as will the others, and all our people.  
Know that we will always be here for you if you need a home, and that you will  
never lose your place in our hearts." Slowly, she straightened up. He still  
kneeled, gaping, unmoving. "I wish you luck and power, Sailor Star Healer.  
You are most honorably dismissed."  
  
Some thousand heartbeats later, a shooting star flared across the  
night sky. And beneath another night sky, someone saw it and made a wish.  
  
END OF PART I  
  
******  
  



	2. Chapter 2

CULTURAL NOTES:  
  
"masaka" and "uso" means "No way"/"impossible"/"it's a lie!"  
"Boku" is a form of "I" that most boys, and some girls, use. It's hard to  
explain exactly in which circumstances "boku" is used. So just know: in the  
BSSM anime, Haruka, Artemis, Yaten, and Erios use "boku," to name a few.  
"no" is a preposition indicating ownership. So "Boku no" = My, "Jen no  
fanfic" = Jen's fanfic, etc.  
"iie" means "no". "Un" and "Hai" are both ways of saying "yes".  
"ne" (sometimes "na") can mean "eh?" or "hey..." or "don't you think?" It's  
VERY commonly used.   
"Makenai!" means "Don't give up!"  
"Hora" is "Hey" or "look" or "Oh"  
"Arigatou" means "thank you"  
"Doshita" (shortened from Doshita no?) is an informal way of saying "What's  
wrong?" or "What's going on with you?"   
"Onegai" means "please"  
And as I said before, "Shinsei" means "new star," and it's the name of the  
Starlights' new planet. (established in Part I)  
"Sumimasen" means "I'm sorry" or "excuse me."  
"senpai" is the Japanese equivalent for Makoto's ex-boyfriend.  
"Gomen ne" or "Gomen nasai" is "I'm sorry."  
  
I used the Japanese phrases when an English phrase didn't really convey the  
connotation I wanted, or where I associate a particular phrase with a  
character... those VA's are wonderful!  
  
There is a VERY small amount of swearing in this. Just "damn" and "hell."   
There is also just a tiny bit of hentai teaser. But ladies and gentlemen, I  
hereby declare that it does NOT have to be sex going on in that scene. Many  
couples have had many experiences like that withOUT even coming close to  
sexual intercourse. So just take it as romance, and relax.  
  
Now, without further ado, on with the story!  
  
*******  
  
A glimmer of yellow light, tinted slightly blue. It slid along the  
shiny surface and hovered near the edge, before the image winked out and a  
woman's face came into focus.  
"So it's true then," said Haruka, looking over her partner's shoulder.  
"I wonder why," Michiru mused.  
"Have you felt anything?" She shook her head. "Me neither. What  
could be going on then?" Haruka's fist clenched reflexively. She hated being  
out of control of situations, not having a clue which way things would turn.  
Michiru turned, setting her mirror down. Her hands moved to cover  
Haruka's. Concern hovered like a murky grey shadow in those blue-green eyes.  
"We'll find out," she reassured.   
"Don't worry, Haruka. We'll find out exactly what's going on."  
  
*******  
  
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars:  
Yaten's Love Song  
  
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Jennifer A. Wand  
  
Part II  
  
********  
  
"And you can look for Hiroshi's new movie starting April fourth!"  
The announcer grinned nervously as she waited just a tad too long for  
the camera to cut back to the newsroom. A sigh echoed, but went unheard by  
the lady on the screen. The scene was a typical one: five girls, a table,  
and a bunch of homemade snacks... oh yeah, and some textbooks with,  
presumably, some homework in them. Not that that mattered much to the girls,  
who had long since forgotten they were supposed to be studying. Usagi and Rei  
were in the midst of one of their infamous tongue wars, Makoto and Minako were  
giggling and oohing by turns at the TV screen, and Ami was sighing, resigned  
to the fact that this particular study session was over.   
"Rei-chan, you just missed Hiroshi-kun!" Makoto called absently, but  
shifted her attention back to the TV when Rei didn't answer. She batted her  
eyelashes at the screen as if Hiroshi might just pop out and steal her away.  
Minako laughed at her briefly, and was about to make a snide comment when she  
heard something on the TV that caught her attention.  
"Mystery in the music world!" the anchor had said enthusiastically.  
"The hottest rumor since the Ginga TV scandals has just been confirmed by  
Takeuchi Music. A mystery musician will make his solo debut at the Mitsuishi  
Forum in a month. All we know about the star is that he was already a  
celebrity, though we don't know how, and that he is, well, a he." Shuffling  
papers, the anchor continued. "The agency refused to give any more details."  
"Who's gonna buy tickets to a concert when they don't even know who's  
playing?" Makoto said, though her words were swallowed by the TV and the  
tongue war across the table.  
"But speculation is buzzing fast and furious on the streets. The most  
popular suggestion is that the mystery artist is one of the Three Lights..."  
You could have heard a pin drop at the Hikawa Jinja temple.  
Every eye turned toward the screen. Usagi didn't even bother to put  
her tongue back in her mouth. Ami sat straight up like a soldier at  
attention. Everyone else leaned forward onto the table and stared up at the  
TV set, barely breathing or blinking, ready to take in whatever information  
was thrown at them.  
"..who vanished from the music scene completely several months ago.  
Some theorists have linked them to the incident at Ginga TV, considering their  
final concert turned somewhat violent, but an official explanation has yet to  
be given for the trio's conspicuous absence. Fellow musicians have shed no  
light on the subject, but even their silences have been quite revealing."  
The scene shifted to a hallway, and Usagi finally let a "Masaka!" fall  
from her mouth. More clamorous exclamations burst out when a familiar head of  
aquamarine hair appeared at the other end of the hall.  
"Kaiou-san!" the reporter shouted, running toward her just ahead of  
the camera. "Do you have any clue who this mystery musician could be?"  
She laughed, putting on her charmingly aloof camera face, and said  
playfully, "If I knew, I certainly wouldn't tell."  
"Any thoughts on the possibility that it might be one of the Three  
Lights?"  
Her smile vanished, as if a shadow had passed over her face,  
distorting her features. After a moment of staring, she turned away from the  
camera and began to walk briskly in the other direction. "You've played  
concerts with the Three Lights!" insisted the reporter, pursuing her. "Do  
you know the secret behind their disappearance?"   
"Michiru-san was upset," commented Rei as the woman on the screen lost  
the pesky reporter, and the TV cut back to the anchor. "Do you suppose?"  
This time it was Minako who said, "Masaka..."  
"...keep you posted," finished the anchor. "Oh, and one final piece  
of information for you. According to the press release, the mystery man had  
this to say: 'I'll be releasing my album the night of the concert. The title  
will include my name, but for now you can call the album Boku no Love Song.'"  
  
**  
  
"...and he's calling it Boku no Love Song," enthused Usagi, much  
later. "Isn't that romantic?" Cheeks flushed and eyelashes fluttering, she  
looked up at her boyfriend.  
"Yeah," said Mamoru absently. His nose was buried in a book,  
seemingly oblivious to the feminine wiles being shoved in his face. As if  
guided by some kind of radar, he turned the corner onto his street without  
even looking up.   
"And Mako-chan started in with the list of her ex-boyfriends who were  
musicians. She went on and on! I asked Rei-chan if it was Yuuichirou, and  
she turned bright red! I haven't seen her do that since, well, since the time  
you stayed over there. Do you suppose something happened between them? Oh  
well, she'll never tell." It didn't bother Usagi that she was apparently  
talking to a wall. She just hung on his arm lightly, skipping back and forth  
a few steps now and then, happily babbling away. They turned into the  
apartment building in sync, and once in the elevator, Mamoru finally closed  
his book.  
"So who do you think it is, Usako?" he said seriously.  
"Mmm... I don't know!" she said with the air of one who'd been  
pondering the problem for years. "I suppose it's not Mamoru no Love Song, is  
it, Mamo-chan? Not the way you sing..." He grinned guiltily at that, and  
shrugged. "But what I want to know is, who's the love song for? Must be one  
lucky girl, to have a guy that romantic. Almost as lucky as I am." She  
giggled as the elevator stopped and they walked down the hall towards Mamoru's  
apartment.  
"In a way, I kind of hope it IS Yuuichirou," she frowned, her tone  
suddenly more serious. Mamoru looked down at her questioningly. "Just for  
Rei's sake. I mean, look at us! We've been so happy for so long, but none of  
my friends have had real boyfriends... almost since I met them. And they  
SHOULD. It would make them all so happy, just if one of them found the right  
guy, or just any nice guy, that they could be with for a while. All their  
happiness shouldn't be about me. They may be my guardians, but they're people  
too." By this time, they'd reached the door, and Mamoru was staring at her in  
amazement. She seemed genuinely distressed by the thought that her friends  
hadn't found love, and Mamoru felt his heart leap, astonished at the extent of  
her caring.  
He unlocked the door and they went inside. "Now that it's been  
peaceful for months, they don't have any Senshi-related excuse not to." Her  
eyes brightened and she looked at him with a grin. "Hey, Mamo-chan, what do  
you say we fix them up with some nice guys? You have friends at the  
university! Let's do it! I'll find out if any really nice guys at school  
have their eyes on any of them, and we'll fix them up!! All right!" She  
cheered. "Sounds like a plan!"  
Mamoru chuckled in a warm voice, and Usagi looked up at him, suddenly  
blushing. He set his book down on the table and pushed the door closed with  
his one free hand. The last of his warm words that drifted into the hall  
were, "Okay, Usako, but right now, let's just..."  
  
**  
  
Sunlight slid from sweet golden hair and refocused on wrinkled sheets.  
The first thing Minako was aware of was a dim fluttering, like a hummingbird's  
heartbeat. Her eyelashes fluttered in sync, slowly letting in the radiant  
rays for a moment, then a moment, then a longer moment still. The gears in  
her mind began to turn jerkily, letting the old familiar assumptions fall into  
place-- who she was, where she was, what was going on. And her mind's eye  
rested softly on the enigma of the fluttering, a dim sense not quite in any  
part of her chest, but tangible enough to linger on for long minutes on a  
Saturday morning.   
Whatever it was, it was like a caged bird, flapping madly to get out,  
to fly free. But it threaded a merry tune through her heart as it beat its  
wings, and Minako registered that the muscles in her face had moved, that she  
was smiling. But now there was a new question. Was it a pushing from inside,  
as she had thought, or had something else roped the tiny bird and was now  
pulling at it? In any case, Minako felt a wave of restlessness vibrate  
through her fingers and arms, and fall back into a pool of radiant feeling.  
She was awake enough now to realize something was different--  
something seemingly small, perhaps with her mattress, or the sidewalk outside,  
or the angle of the sun in the sky. Some star was glittering with untold  
brilliance, and it was calling to her, softly but steadily, like a low whistle  
echoing through a valley on a dark night.  
Minako sat up, blinking her eyes several times, and tried to suppress  
the sparkling energy that seemed to be wrapped about her. This was a  
sensation she hadn't felt in a long time... true happiness, hope, the feeling  
that something was right about the world-- HER world. The glimmer on the  
horizon of something special waiting for her-- not for her and her friends,  
not for Sailor Venus, but for Aino Minako, and only Aino Minako. Almost the  
way she'd felt when she went to idol auditions, when she was fighting crime as  
Sailor V-- before Artemis told her it was time to join up with her team.  
Not that she didn't love Usagi and the others with all her heart,  
because she did. And not just because they were assigned to be a team. Her  
friends gave her a sense of belonging, a safety net to fall into when life  
dealt her a punch, something she never had on her own. Usagi was so much like  
her, and they had so much fun, and she never failed to have a ball when  
gabbing with Makoto, and so on. But the line between teamwork and  
co-dependency is tricky, especially for a girl who'd been alone most of her  
life. And in the past two years, Minako had often felt like she was only a  
fifth of a unit, like she had no value on her own, that her only purpose was  
to be part of the group. And that burned into her so painfully. She longed  
to find a purpose of her own, a destiny meant for her and her alone, that she  
could take first and foremost without waiting for the others to have their  
share. And that longing swallowed her sometimes. So she'd strike out from  
the belly of the beast, shouting assertions that she would be the greatest and  
most beautiful superstar in the world, that millions would love her most of  
all. She'd be the one, not the one-fourth or the one-fifth. So there.  
And while Usagi-chan's reassurances that her dreams were important  
helped, it was hard to believe such things coming from the person you'd given  
your life to protect, over and over again. Sometimes Minako felt the tears  
welling up in her eyes, and she just wanted to scream in Usagi's face, "Never  
again! I'm not dying for you ever again! I'm never going to sacrifice my own  
life, just to save yours. So forget it!" But it wasn't true-- she *would*  
still die for her Princess-- but why did things always turn out so she  
actually had to?  
Minako brushed the tears from her eyes and giggled a little at  
herself. Deep thoughts at eight thirty in the morning? Never. Not allowed.  
The only thing I'm gonna think about, she decided, is how happy I am that it's  
been peaceful. But a persistent hummingbird reminded her that this morning's  
shining joy was the result of newfound independence-- and you can't have that  
without the painful dependence of the past.  
  
"Artemis! Wake up!"  
The white cat opened his eyes hesitantly, grumbling in a low monotone.  
He saw Mina upside down, and closed his eyes again. It took another moment  
for him to register this as an unusual sight, and when he did, his eyes popped  
open once more. She was lying with her hips resting on the bed, but her upper  
body twisted sideways like a funny barbershop pole. Her mess of blonde hair  
was resting on the floor right in front of him, her eyes right at his eye  
level, and a sinfully gleeful grin above that. "Mina..." he muttered.  
"What..."  
"Guess what?" she said from those inverted lips.   
"I shudder to think," said Artemis in the same droning voice.  
"It's Saturday!!" Minako giggled.  
Artemis closed his eyes. "Oh. Brilliant."  
"Guess what else?" Her glowing voice invaded his already scant  
privacy. "I've got a yen... to go shopping!" Minako grabbed him by the fur  
on his back, rousing him to full consciousness. He gave a yowl of shock. "So  
get up get up get UP!"  
At the first available moment, Artemis wrested himself from her grasp  
and collapsed, bristling and panting, onto her bed. "Mina, it's still early  
in the morning!" he whined. "Can't we go back to sleep?"  
"Iie," she insisted, throwing a pretty green blouse over her  
shoulders. "We're going shopping downtown."   
"But..."  
"Or, if you'd like," Minako said in her horror-movie voice, turning  
toward him with a scowl that would make the bravest cat shudder, "I can tell  
Luna who polished off the cat food before the study session at Rei's even  
STARTED."  
The tomcat gulped. "Erm... let's go."  
  
In a happy haze, Minako bounded down the street, a wicker basket on  
one swinging arm. Artemis clutched the sides as her purse slid back and forth  
on the basket floor beneath him. After a few years as Minako's pet, he'd  
gotten used to the occasional abuse by his sometimes clueless owner. But it  
was still nauseating. Artemis wondered dimly if it was possible to get  
seasick in a basket. He concluded that if it wasn't, this was a pretty good  
imitation!  
He tilted his head upwards. On the other hand, he conceded, it was  
nice to hear Minako humming again. She'd been seriously distracted in these  
last few months of peace-- not so much that he suspected anything dangerous  
was going on, but enough to make him worry. He cared about her as if she was  
his little sister, and no one, not even Usagi, knew her as well as he did.  
Over the years, he'd watched melancholy eat her alive and frustration tear  
away at her walls. And yet she'd been healing, slowly, this past year. He  
fondly remembered the surge of hope in his heart as he watched her from  
backstage at those idol auditions-- she'd been radiant, glittering. But then  
Galaxia had descended, and their lives were shattered once more.  
But today, she was on some kind of high, and it was more genuine than  
the mania she often wore in front of her friends. She was joyful. And  
although Artemis's stomach kept lurching, his heart was smiling.  
They popped into a million stores, boutiques, cute little charm shops,  
even a candy store (where she'd slipped the jelly beans into her basket for  
Artemis to munch on). After leaving each store, the cat would pop out of his  
little hiding place and survey her new purchases. A dress the same shade of  
green as her blouse. A gold chain with a tiny purple sign of Venus on it.  
Tacky earrings. She modeled each with pride for her appreciative audience of  
one. A few people on the street did a double take when they saw the blonde  
talking to no one, then caught a glimpse of white ears and fuzzy paws sticking  
out of her basket. Artemis couldn't talk in public, but he gave appropriate  
mews and approving nods. Minako would giggle, and they'd move on.  
Sun bleached the tops of branches at noon, when Minako sat down on a  
brick wall near Juuban park to take a rest. She brushed her hand over her  
forehead and sighed happily, "Phew!" Artemis poked his head out, then leapt  
from the basket when he saw that they were relatively secluded-- just down a  
path from most of the passersby. Stretching, he meowed and grinned at her.  
"Having a good time?" he said, pacing around a sunny spot. She  
nodded. "Me too. Thanks for the jelly beans."  
"And who said they were for you?" she scowled frighteningly.   
Artemis jumped in shock and embarrassment. "Um... uh..." he fumbled,  
looking guilty and staring at his front paws.  
"Just kidding." Her face relaxed, and so did poor Artemis's tense  
back. "Scared ya, huh? Naw, I wouldn't have put them in there if they  
weren't for you. I know better than that!" She shook her finger at him.  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" he teased back.  
"It means," she began, assuming the position of lecturer and staring  
out toward the street philosophically, "that you, sir, are a bottomless pit.  
A Hoover. A black hole. A--" She stopped short.  
"Sweet-toothed catburglar?" Artemis offered helpfully.  
But Minako had turned pale. She was staring down the path toward the  
crowd of people going to and returning from lunch. And her eyes were suddenly  
hollow. Before Artemis could stutter more than a confused "Ah--," she had  
taken off running, nearly tripping over herself in her frantic flight toward  
the sidewalk. Paralyzed, he watched her go, her hair bouncing over and over  
itself like frenetic threads of dying sunshine.  
She nearly disappeared into the crowd, but then stopped short, turned,  
and began to make her slow way back to their spot on the wall. Artemis stayed  
as still as possible, not wanting to remind Minako that he was there. He  
peered at her face as she approached, wanting to read the expression before  
she changed it for his benefit.  
"Sorry 'bout that," she said as she plastered on her huge Aino Minako  
trademark grin.  
Artemis knew all hope of reading her was lost. "What on earth got  
into you, Mina?" he yawned critically.  
"Oh, nothing, nothing." She waved her hand back and forth, as if to  
dismiss the whole thing. "Thought I saw someone I knew. Wanna get going?"  
The cat nodded, and steeled himself for the wicker ship of nightmares  
to launch once more. As they walked down the street, he overheard a few of  
her mumbles and took note of them. More than a few "Us-o!"s, and one "that  
would explain it..."  
  
**  
  
"Well, Yaten-san, this mystery woman of yours is pretty lucky," came a  
booming voice, and Yaten abruptly looked up, leaving a lonely note quivering  
in the air.  
Taishi was a big grizzly bear of a man, with a scratchy red beard and  
arms that looked like they were about to pop out of his starched sleeves. He  
knew what effect his appearance could have, and used it to his advantage when  
doing business, playing Ivan the Terrible and Old King Cole by turns. As a  
result, he was a shrewd and astute executive director, and a major reason why  
Takeuchi Music had come so far in its first few years of existence. He took a  
personal interest in all his acts, allowing them just as much artistic freedom  
as was still marketable. He'd single-handedly lifted such artists as Yusuke  
Amade and Nishio Toshiyuki to stardom.  
"Are you aware that you've started a frenzy out there?" he said,  
clapping Yaten on the back and gesturing toward the wide blue window. "This  
may be the greatest marketing gimmick ever to hit the music business! Every  
girl in Tokyo is imagining that she's the lucky lady. Doesn't matter who you  
turn out to be, whether you're old, fat, and bald when you finally appear--  
they're all in love with the mystery man behind the most romantic Love Song  
they've never heard."  
"Really?" Yaten turned a boyish grin toward the burly man, and  
quickly suppressed it. "That's good," he said in a bored tone, but his eyes  
were sparkling. "How are tickets selling?"  
"Faster and more furious than you can imagine, my boy," smiled Taishi.  
"I'm telling you, this idea of yours is a goldmine! Are you absolutely sure  
you don't want to join my staff?"  
"I'm a musician," said Yaten, turning up his nose. It was not the  
first time he'd turned the offer down, and Taishi knew it wouldn't be the  
last, but he felt it his duty to ask. It had become something of a joke  
between the two. Continued Yaten, "I'm doing this for my own reasons. Now  
make sure they sell as many tickets as they can. No one who wants to go to  
this concert is going to get turned away, got it? There's no such thing as  
Sold Out. Not for this. Right?"  
Taishi chuckled. "Calm yourself," he said, and Yaten realized with  
surprise that he had crossed the room during that speech, and was now glaring  
up at the executive, one finger pointed accusingly at him. With a half-smile  
and a strangulated noise, he shrunk back. "Everything's going according to  
plan, Yaten-san," reassured Taishi. "Everything on my end, at least."  
"What do you mean?" Yaten looked jarred by this throwaway statement.  
The other man shrugged. "I just hope this venture is as successful  
for you as it's going to be for us. But there's no way to tell if your lady  
love is really going to show. She'd be a fool not to, but really... will  
she?" He left, and Yaten trembled. Picking up his guitar, he strummed a  
questioning chord at the empty room.  
  
**  
  
Artemis yawned loudly. It was twilight, and they had returned to  
their favorite wall to munch on some sandwiches before heading home. Minako  
was surrounded by happily rustling shopping bags, and looked like Cleopatra,  
sprawled amongst her trappings of luxury. She smiled contentedly and popped  
the last bit of dinner in her mouth.  
"Thanks for hanging with me today, Artemis," she said in a gentle  
voice, looking down at him with a smile.  
"Mm, mm." Artemis shook his head and swallowed. "It was fun. I'm  
glad you're feeling better." She sighed agreement, and there was a pause.  
Artemis started again, hesitantly, "Ne, Mina-- any idea what changed?"  
Her eyes clouded and became distant-- bright, but distant. "I'm not  
sure," she said. "I just feel... good today." She stopped on the edge of the  
next word, trying to find a more suitable way to explain it.  
"Well, that's good enough for me," grinned Artemis. She abandoned her  
almost-thought and smiled appreciatively. "Shall we?"  
"Sure!" Artemis hopped into the basket, and they started on their way  
home. Soon Minako was swinging her arms gaily and humming again, and Artemis  
was hanging on tight, praying for his nine lives.  
Soon the horizon was the smoky red of early night in the city, and a  
few faint stars prickled past the fog. Minako turned a corner into a well-lit  
but narrow alleyway that she often used as a shortcut. She continued her  
joyful humming, practically skipping down the lane, her head angled up to the  
sky.  
Then Artemis felt everything go topsy-turvy, and he lost his footing  
and tumbled from one end of the basket to the other. The purse lurched  
sickeningly in the basket, purse strings making wheeling arcs above his head,  
then tightening like a noose around one of the poor cat's limbs. He tried to  
find his voice to yowl in alarm, but by then the basket had flown far from  
Minako's arm and landed hard on the concrete. No... it was a puddle, for  
Artemis shivered at the coldness seeping up through the wicker into his fur, a  
moment before he blacked out completely.  
  
"I'm sorry! Your bags..." stammered a tenor voice frantically.  
Minako scrambled to her feet, looking behind her. She gasped, and ran  
back a few steps to grab her basket and a few stray shopping bags. The person  
she'd bumped into scrambled feverishly to gather up the rest. "I'm really  
sorry!" Minako turned to take her things back, held out her free hand, and  
stopped.  
"It's you!" said Minako.  
"It's you!" said the other.  
Two blonde-haired figures stared at each other in the dimming  
lamplight.  
  
Of course! sang a small voice behind Minako's ear as she stared up  
into Yaten Kou's pale face. The morning's fluttering increased to a pounding,  
and she became suddenly aware of every drop of blood rushing through her body.  
Arms, legs, alive with motion. Tiny capillaries dancing beneath her skin.  
She instinctively touched her own arm, pinching it slightly, then reached over  
to feel the cloth of his shirt. Was it real? Was it real?  
"Have I ever told you that you're nuts? Hanging out in an alley like  
this, late at night," quipped Yaten, after taking a gulp of chilly night air.  
She smiled and lowered her eyes, but felt compelled to raise them  
again almost immediately. As if he might disappear. "You have told me that,  
once," she said. Her voice sounded low and surprisingly demure to her.  
"What... what are you doing back here?"  
Yaten started to speak several times, but each time he paused and fell  
back, deciding each answer was insufficient. Finally, he stretched his arms  
and placed his hands behind his head in a bored posture. "What, aren't you  
glad to see me?" he said as slyly as he could.  
"Yes, oh, yes I am!" she insisted, sounding rather more effusive than  
she'd intended. Again the silence seemed too long. "Are-- are the others  
with you?" Her voice choked, aware she was intruding on the sacred silence of  
a dark night and a lonely alley.   
"Nope," he answered. "I came alone."  
This answer surprised her. "Why would you..." she began. Then a  
shudder overtook her, and it was like a wash of golden light over everything.  
Gone was her shyness, her stuttering. Suddenly, she was the smartest person  
in the world. The enlightened one. Damn, was she brilliant! She cracked a  
smile and winked. "So... you're it!"  
Her sudden knowing, jubilant tone startled Yaten. "I'm what?"  
"Of course!" she giggled, and went into a series of melodramatic  
gestures. "All right! I, Aino Minako, now hold the answer to the universe's  
greatest mystery! Only an ace detective like myself could figure it out. I  
wonder who will pay me more to know this secret? The Emperor, or the  
President of the United States? Maybe the Queen of England... I met her once,  
you know..."  
Yaten watched her bubble about with an array of emotions like a  
rainbow sweeping through him. Finally, he deadpanned, "I really don't have a  
clue what you're talking about."  
"SURE you don't." Minako winked again, the grin on her face wobbling  
as if it threatened to grow still larger and take over her chin entirely.  
Yaten imagined her as a huge firefly, wings batting, in the alley-- the light  
from the streetlamp was orange, but there was a yellow-green haze all about  
her. He let her name escape his lips.  
"?" She stopped.  
"Please don't-- uh-- let anyone know I'm here, okay?" requested Yaten  
in a shy voice.  
Her face softened. "Sure." Then brighter, "My god, it is SO good to  
see you again, Yaten-kun!" And she threw her arms around him.  
There are some points in outer space where the energy from various  
surrounding stars radiates so strongly that the vacuum is transformed: these  
places cease to be simple space. Instead, they become energy vertices, living  
hubs of heat and brilliance. Earth's scientists don't know about these nodes,  
but the scientists of Shinsei do. And at that moment, Yaten felt he was right  
in the center of such a nexus.  
Somewhere among the spangles of red and gold, Minako released him,  
chirped a cheerful goodbye, and ran off on her way. But it wasn't until the  
last of her golden hairs disappeared at the other end of the alley that Yaten  
felt the cool grays of night fall back into his life like a muslin drape. His  
hands moved slightly, grabbing at air in the somehow suddenly moving darkness.  
  
**  
  
"Done!"  
Usagi grumbled. Once more Minako had challenged her to a math problem  
race, and once more Minako had won. They'd done four problems this afternoon,  
and Minako had not only beat her to the solution each time, but amazingly  
enough, Ami had verified that all four answers were correct! In fact, the  
blue-haired genius was surveying Minako's problem now, and after a few seconds  
she looked up and nodded smilingly at the group. "Ohh, I give up!" wailed  
Usagi, face contorted in a mix of frustration and despair.  
Minako slung her arm around the other girl. "C'mon, Usagi-chan!" she  
coached. "Makenai!" Usagi just whimpered into Minako's shoulder. As the  
rather forceful pep talk continued, the spectators hung their heads and  
sighed. Here they go again...  
"Well, guys," Minako said, turning so abruptly that Usagi fell over  
sideways and ended up face to the floor, "It has been a major blast as usual,  
but I gotta run. Got some things to take care of at home, ya know. Ah, the  
life of a goddess of love and justice in her first year of high school is sooo  
complicated!" With a string of laughter that was more squeaks than giggles,  
she floated to the screen door and slid it open. Each of the girls thought to  
themselves that her feet barely touched the ground the whole way out. After  
she was gone, a trail of giggles lingered in the air, then silence descended.  
"WHAT was that," commented Rei flatly.  
"A whirling dervish," offered Makoto.  
"A Snow Dancer," suggested Luna.  
"A mirror paredory," giggled Ami, blushing.  
"Don't even go there," growled Usagi.  
The girls laughed heartily, but without the one-woman cheering  
section, the conversation died soon after. So the group parted for the  
evening. After everyone had left, Rei let out a long, exhausted sigh.  
Grumbling, she bent forward, and started to brush the cookie crumbs off the  
table when she heard a few familiar padding footsteps behind her.  
"Hora, Artemis!" she said, startled. "I thought you had gone home  
with Minako-chan!"  
The white cat shook his head. "You don't walk in the path of a  
tornado."  
"Say," grinned Rei with the wicked glint that she usually reserved for  
Usagi. "Do you have any idea what's gotten into her? It's like Venus is  
rising over the house of Psycho!"  
Artemis shrugged, as much as a cat can shrug, that is. "Actually,  
that was what I was going to ask you."  
Rei stopped short. "Huh?" she gasped. "Why would I know anything?"  
"I was just wondering," frowned Artemis, "if you'd felt anything  
strange lately. Had any visions." He gave her a questioning look, but she  
continued to stare wordlessly back. "Have you? ...Sensed anything different?"  
Rei stared for a few more moments, then shook her head slowly.  
"Nothing... evil," she started. "Not really anything to be worried about.  
Why? Do you think something happened to her?" Concern rose in her voice.  
"Do you want me to do a fire reading?"  
"No," Artemis's brisk answer eliminated any such possibility. "It's  
nothing like that. But listen, Rei-chan... don't tell the others I talked to  
you, okay?"  
"Ya know," she giggled. "I'm sure they're all thinking along the same  
lines, Artemis. Wouldn't be surprised if someone else asked me the same  
things tomorrow."  
"I'm serious!" insisted Artemis.  
"I know, I know." She flapped her hand dismissingly at him and  
returned to her cleanup job. "Go home, Artemis. Minako's at the top of her  
game right now. Enjoy it. She's the most fun when she's like this."  
"The most FRUSTRATING, you mean," Artemis corrected.  
Rei laughed. "Yeah, that too."  
"Arigatou, Rei-chan," he said, and padded to the door. Sunlight  
tinted his white fur orange as he hopped outside and ran home to his  
mind-boggling mistress Minako. Rei paused to admire the lovely sunset,  
shimmering and almost vibrating through the trees, before she finished her  
work for the day.  
  
**  
  
"That's a wrap."  
  
"Yess!" Yaten allowed himself one moment of excitement, pushing his  
fist up to the sky and pulling hard against air, sweat flying from his matted  
bangs. He got up from the piano bench and paced around the room several  
times. Pulling at his collar to let some cooler air caress his skin, he  
looked up at the control booth and winked. "Well done," he called, and the  
fellows behind the glass mouthed the phrase back at him.  
This album was going so well! Bent over a water fountain, Yaten  
splashed the back of his neck before continuing on down the hall. That was  
the third single he'd finished this week, and at this rate, he'd have nearly a  
whole week to prepare for the concert after the CD was done. Yaten was  
giddily happy, more than he ever remembered being. He and the others had  
started their music career as a cover, but Yaten had discovered a deeper  
thrill to it, a slow stirring in his soul that quickened to the pace of a  
heartbeat when he began to perform. Even before, when he'd daily barked at  
Seiya to keep his mind on their mission, he had dared to dream of music for  
its own sake. Being a musician. As a career. Not just a facade for three  
alien warriors seeking their Princess. He felt the fluttering eagerness of a  
butterfly chaser, about to seize his elusive dream at long last. Please,  
don't let it be frightened and flit away.  
Mystery was the most important factor of the Love Song campaign, so  
Yaten had gone to great lengths to ensure that no one knew he was back. It  
may have been merely by chance that he'd run into Minako in that maze of  
alleyways he used to get home, but he'd resolved to be more vigilant from now  
on in his nightly routine. After a long day in the studio, he always went out  
the back entrance, crossed over a few alleys and under a bridge, and then  
followed a zigzag pattern of back roads until he came to the place he was  
staying. It was a hollow, frigid studio in the basement of a dance school,  
very similar to the room they'd inhabited during their career as the Three  
Lights. The landlady knew of no music besides her beloved Tchaikovsky, and  
was not likely to leak any information, but had still confusedly promised not  
to talk to anyone about his stay there. Cold as it was there, he'd found the  
atmosphere ideal. While students pounded above, Yaten pondered below.  
Tonight, having finished his day's work, the ambitious Light walked  
through the studio corridors toward the exit. Cool night air blasted in his  
face as he flung the doors open, and he closed his eyes to accept it. How  
good it felt after a day's worth of sweat! He walked a few more steps out  
into the sweet night, and stopped when he felt a strange heat somewhere near  
his face. Idly confused, he winked one eye open.  
There was a Space Sword pointed right at his throat.  
  
Yaten yelped and stumbled backwards, crashing into a pile of garbage  
cans and sending a family of cats mewing off to find new shelter. Clutching  
his throat protectively, he slowly got up and turned blazing eyes up to the  
duo confronting him.  
"What do you want here?" asked Sailor Uranus, steel glinting in her  
eyes. She brandished the Space Sword not aggressively, but firmly, as a  
warning. Half a pace behind her, Sailor Neptune turned a cool glance. Her  
arms were crossed, and she leaned ever so slightly against her partner's back.  
Yaten coughed hard. "And it's nice to see you, too," he wheezed,  
still feeling as though he had a glowing blade at this throat. Uranus scowled  
him into submission. He stumbled, met the soldier's gaze trepidatiously, then  
more confidently, frowning. The old defenses slid jerkily into place. "Would  
you put that thing away and tell me what's going on here?"   
Uranus pulled the sword back, but was reluctant to sheathe it. "We  
want some answers from you," she growled, glaring icicles in Yaten's  
direction. Yaten matched her gaze. Finally, Neptune spoke up.  
"As the Sailor Senshi of the Outer Planets we must be aware of any  
threat from beyond the solar system. Kindly tell us why you have returned to  
our planet." Her words were polite, but their edges bit sharply from those  
thin lips.  
Yaten stared, befuddled, at the sword, eyes fixed on the blade's  
piercing yellow haze. "I'd hate to think how you greet your enemies," he  
muttered.   
The anger in Uranus's eyes was laced with a kind of dread, and that  
made her all the more frightening. "Yaten Kou." She spoke the name  
carefully. "The last time you were here, it was to fight a powerful enemy.  
If our planet is in danger again," she thrust the sword forward another  
half-inch, "you must tell us."  
Yaten fought his way up, one hand clutching his throat as another  
pressed hand against the brick wall. Those green eyes opened and glinted  
upward, bringing with them a strange smile on the face of the former Light.  
Uranus readied herself.  
"Is everything a fight to you, Ten'ou-san?"  
Uranus faltered, the grip on her blade loosening... As if the odd  
question wasn't enough, the polite tone threw her completely. "Huh?"  
Yaten's palms were open and turned toward the two Sailors; he tilted  
his head slightly down so that his eyes were looking up at them. His face was  
serious, but there was a slight smile in his eyes. "There is no threat," he  
said levelly. "Not from me, nor from anything I am aware of." He paused.  
"I'm here for a different reason."  
As he spoke, Yaten's eyes grew distant. Uranus scowled intensely, and  
Neptune stood still in the background, her head bowed, green hair falling over  
her eyes and obscuring her expression. "We learned a lot here on your world,"  
he began gently. "It became a kind of home to us when our first home was  
destroyed. We came to truly love it, this world. And I... I think I'd like  
this place to keep on-- being my home." The blonde warrior shifted  
uncomfortably. "You see, I want to be a musician. For real. And there's a  
certain song I want-- more than anything-- to sing. Boku no... Love Song."  
Three figures stood, statues in a cool night, burning flames of stars  
in quiet shells. A piece of paper freed itself from the toppled trash cans.  
It did a series of somersaults across the alleyway, stuck fast to the opposite  
wall for several moments, and then fell to earth silently. The Space Sword  
glowed a slight shade of red.  
Finally, the tableau was broken. Uranus turned her head slightly,  
sending her partner a silent question. In response, Neptune cupped her hands.  
A dim shade of green glowed like a firefly, and then a form took shape. The  
Aqua Mirror. She held it gently, one hand gripping the handle, the other  
cradling the back. And falling into a state of utter tranquillity, she willed  
it to answer her call.  
The surface fell into murky grayness, and then a tiny light twinkled  
in the center. It grew slowly, from a pinprick to a yellow star, crystal and  
warm. And Neptune restrained a small gasp as she saw another symbol, one she  
recognized, rise in pink shades to join and enhance the star's brilliance.  
She took this information into her cache of secrets, tucking it into a tiny  
mental jewelbox to be treasured and kept. And she turned her mirror over. It  
faded into the symbol of the her planet, then vanished. She turned to Uranus  
with a placid face. Yaten watched her earnestly. After what seemed to be  
hours of silence, she nodded. And smiled.  
The Space Sword's blade flickered and went out, the jeweled handle  
dispersing into stardust a moment later. "If you're lying," said Uranus  
slowly, "you'll regret it." Then she met Yaten's gaze, and the relief and  
acceptance he saw there made him release the breath he hadn't even known he'd  
been holding in. "But for now... we believe you."  
Uranus turned her back, but Neptune's gaze lingered. Smiling just  
slightly, she breathed, "Good luck." She walked away, two silhouettes fading  
into the night. And Yaten felt the heat of the day's work slide off his back  
like a leaf from a rooftop in a rainstorm.   
  
**  
  
Life was just not fair, decided Yaten as he stomped down the street.  
Of course the old lady would be completely out of juice on the same morning  
the pipes were spewing brown water. True, she had milk in the refrigerator,  
but experience had taught the young singer that dairy products don't mix well  
with a day's worth of voicework. And Yaten abhorred dry cereal, which was all  
Mother Hubbard had to offer. So it was with a rumbling stomach and a scratchy  
throat that Yaten set out for the recording studio at six o'clock on this gray  
morning.  
Why did the air have to be so dry? So cold this morning, too! It was  
like inhaling concrete. Scowling, Yaten kicked a pebble in a patch of dirt,  
hearing the refreshing clang as it hit an overturned garbage can. Alleyways  
and no breakfast. This was quite a life. He was peeved. Fed up.  
Frustrated. And so very, very happy to be here.  
Grimacing to hide a sneaking smile, he looked up at the soupy clouds.  
It really did feel so wonderful to be normal again. No longer constantly  
looking over his shoulder, clutching his henshin star so hard that its spikes  
nearly pierced the flesh of his palm. No longer playing at idols, playing the  
game that had the dangerously annoying habit of feeling all too real. This  
time, it was. No more pretense, no more secrets except the one he planned to  
reveal soon. And he could get annoyed at little things, like the hovering of  
heavy clouds or the steady grumbling of his stomach. It felt good to let  
these nuisances grate on his nerves, without being dismissed in favor of  
more-important-things. He could enjoy life or despise it, but no longer did  
he have to turn up his nose at it all. It was a beautiful new freedom.  
But his hunger and thirst themselves were not beautiful, he thought  
with a groan, drawing a few stares from passersby in the hall of the building  
he'd entered. He wondered if the guys in the booth would toss him a little  
something. They always had the best food. Of course, the techies always had  
the best of everything-- highest pay, elite society, looking down both  
literally and figuratively on the performers. The teasing rivalry between  
those on opposite sides of the glass amused Yaten to no end. His rebellious  
image had earned him points with the techies during the era of the Three  
Lights, and they still remembered him now. Surely he could draw on them to  
get him some breakfast. He nodded and turned the doorknob of his practice  
room.  
"Morr-ning!"  
Yaten found himself face to face with a bagel.  
Of course, it wasn't the bagel that was speaking, although the bagel  
did have an eye peeking through its hole... a blue, enthusiastically blinking  
eye. And another eye blinked through the nearly-transparent glass at the neck  
of a bottle of orange juice, though the liquid splashed up and obscured it  
slightly. But no, the mouth that had spoken didn't seem to be attached to any  
particular part of this floating buffet, and he finally reasoned that there  
was a person holding the food and drink. And she frowned at him and said,  
"You can come down off the ceiling now, Yaten-kun. It's just me."  
Regaining his composure, Yaten coughed. "Minako?? How did you get in  
here?"  
"Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a girl on a mission," she  
said briskly, placing the bagel on a napkin that was spread out on the back of  
the grand piano. It was not the only thing she'd brought. Beneath a napkin,  
Yaten glimpsed some huge muffins and at least one danish in a small basket.  
And there were cups, little paper plates, and a thermos-- a veritable picnic  
on the piano.   
He blinked and scratched his head, puzzlement slowly brightening into  
delight all through him. "What mission is that?"  
"To surprise you with some breakfast, of course!" she giggled. "Boy,  
are you dull. How you came up with this mystery singer thing is beyond me."  
He started to protest, but she somehow appeared behind him and pushed him--  
hard-- toward the "tabletop". "Now eat, eat, c'mon. Don't tell me you  
already had breakfast!"  
Her giddiness was punching through him, and he shook his head,  
mustering his usual empathetic defenses so that her joy wouldn't knock him  
over completely. "Why'd you bother to do this?" he said, voice conveying  
annoyance but trembling on the verge of laughter.  
"Why not?" she shrugged, grinning in the sudden stream of golden  
light. Yaten caught his breath. The sun had risen just far enough to send a  
single slender ray through the fourth floor window, and its edge caught on a  
warp in the glass, reflecting blinding white brilliance up through Yaten's  
line of sight. So what he saw of Minako, dimly visible in the golden corners  
of his white world, was magical for that moment. Golden hair in golden light.  
Still, it might have not affected him at all, if it wasn't for that persistent  
grin. Not even dazzling sunlight could block its gleam from his vision. And  
suddenly every annoyance of the morning was a rapidly fading memory.  
A muffin later, Minako asked, "So how's the album coming?"  
"Really well," said Yaten in between bites. "I wouldn't be surprised  
if we wrapped this week. Can I have a little more orange juice? ...Ah, you  
saved my life. How'd you know what I liked?"  
"A hunch," she shrugged. "And a little common sense."  
"Common sense?"  
"I brought what I liked to eat before I went off to an audition.  
Substantial, no milk, ya know..."  
"Oh, that's right, you're a singer too," Yaten snapped his fingers at  
the realization, sending a few caked crumbs into flight.  
Minako blushed. "Well, I sing," she said.  
Something about this new piece of knowledge had gotten Yaten very  
excited. "That's right, you're good, too. Want to do a track for my album?"  
Heat crawled in Minako's toes, and then shot up, prickling through her  
entire body. Her fair skin glowed pink. "...Me...?" she stuttered, the queen  
of bouncing boldness suddenly stiff and paralyzed. When Yaten nodded, she  
lowered her eyes. "N... no thanks," she said in a muted voice.  
"Doshita?" He stared at her through glassy eyes. Was this the same  
girl who'd lectured him so thoroughly about her idol dreams? She'd folded  
inward, like a frightened bird under the protective cover of its ruffled  
feathers. And he couldn't reach out to touch her feelings anymore. This star  
he'd once been able to read completely! Or maybe he'd never been able to read  
it at all. He backed off. "O-- okay," he said, shrugging. "Just thought I'd  
ask."  
Almost immediately, she shook her head vigorously and grinned. "Iie.  
I just decided... I think, right now, I'd rather hang with my friends for a  
while. I mean, you told me, once, that I do have what it takes..." her eyes  
were soft now, and he felt a strange, isolated desire to touch her hand--  
"...and maybe that's all I need right now, to know that I could do it, if I  
wanted to. You know?" He did.  
A few clouds had parted, and shafts of light shifted in the room.  
Silence persisted for a moment. "Uh..." Yaten drew a syllable to fill the  
space, and finally formed a question. "So, speaking of friends, how is  
everyone?"  
"They're good, they're good!" The color was back in her star, and  
Yaten floated on its carefree glitter. "Except, Rei-chan had a fight with  
Yuuichirou-- oh, that's right, you never met him! Well, she's on a major boy  
hunt now. Usagi-chan's totally ecstatic that Mamoru-san's staying around a  
while, and she's working on her parents so that next year, they'll let her..."  
  
Yaten smiled and drank in the gossip, touching Minako's bubble-like  
feelings gently in one mental hand. He felt like he was caressing her,  
softly, barely, without touching her. And he had a sense of being comfortable  
and utterly content. Still listening, he meandered over to the keyboard and  
let his fingers wander across the keys. A lingering melody accompanied  
Minako's words. As it floated, her voice took on a sort of melody too,  
lilting in an unconscious dance with the piano notes trickling, no, now  
pouring forth. And as if choreographed, Yaten's hands came to rest on a  
single chord as she leaned forward onto the piano, winked, and said, "So,  
that's the scoop!"  
"So you guys have been busy," he commented, the bored tone trickling  
back into his voice, but not so much that she was concerned by it.  
She nodded. "It's so good to have peace," she glowed. "We haven't  
had to fight since, knock on wood," (and she did), "and we can concentrate on  
all the little things."  
"Like music," he finished her sentence without realizing it, and  
looked down at the waiting keyboard.  
"Or..." Minako stopped short. Yaten blinked up at her.  
Her squeal could have brought down the building.  
"...SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!"  
Never had so fast a whirlwind moved through the city of Tokyo. In a  
flash, the piano was cleaned up, the remaining muffins were in the basket and  
set on the windowsill, and Minako was putting on a jacket and rearranging her  
hair while making her way to the door. "I'm so late, I totally forgot about  
the time, I'll see you later Yaten-kun, byeee!" Another gust of wind, and she  
was gone.  
Yaten chuckled and stretched. The room was silent, but the strains of  
the melody he'd improvised were still humming through his head. "Thanks for  
the song," he said. And he sat down at the piano to play it.  
  
**  
  
She was back again after school, and he grinned at the sight of her  
bouncing hair making its way down the hall. Turning his back and twisting his  
face up, he said in English, "Do I know you?" To his great surprise, he  
responded with a much better accent, "You don't fool me!" He deflated and  
sighed, and she patted him on the back with words of encouragement delivered  
in a tone halfway between a sermon and a military drill. It quickly  
degenerated into a staring contest until one of the producers passed by and  
scowled quite frighteningly. Minako and Yaten bristled like a pair of  
alleycats.  
Another day, he heard a twanging noise behind his door and discovered  
her plucking at one of the guitars leaned up against the wall. She grinned,  
reddened, and insisted, "Don't you think I could play this thing?" He ran a  
hand through his silvery hair and gritted his teeth.  
Minako brought him candy, newspapers with stories on the Musical  
Mystery, and an array of smiles which he collected in a mental album. Every  
so often he'd surprise her, having set up his room or rigged his door in a way  
that when she came bounding through (never knocking), he'd get the upper hand.  
Depending on the surprise, she'd scream or shriek, mouth turning into a giant  
crescent of horror or joy, her eyes seeming to change shape with it. And  
after the gigglefits had subsided in both of them, they'd talk about dreams  
and friends, rays of fiery sun touching them in turn as specks of dust floated  
in the afternoon air.  
One day she popped in on him just as he was about to start a recording  
session, and she begged him to let her sit and listen. "Nope," he shook his  
head firmly, "not gonna happen." She alternately pleaded, demanded, and  
batted her eyelashes furiously, but he stood there with his arms folded across  
his chest and eyes pointed downwards, frowning. She pulled at his arm, and he  
raised his eyes slightly to the rush of warmth. She blinked. He felt his  
heart jump back about ten feet. Her hands remained pressed against his  
sleeve.  
Just then, a techie came by. "Are we going to start, or what,  
Yaten-san?" he demanded. "We're recording the last song you know, r..."  
"The title track," Yaten hastily cut in, the moment broken. "I know,  
I know."  
"The TITLE TRACK?" Minako squealed, eyes full of stars. "Oh, come on,  
I want to know!"  
Yaten turned away from her and walked a few paces as she followed him.  
Even with his back to her, he knew the huge pathetic eyes she was giving him.  
"Forget it," he said, smirking.  
"Onegai?"  
"Nope."  
"O--ne-gai?"  
"It's a SECRET, remember?" He turned back to her with a wink, and she  
pouted.   
As he walked into the recording studio, she shouted to his back, "Oh  
yeah? Well I already know ONE secret. So I'll figure this one out! You bet!  
Don't even TRY to keep it a secret from me. You'll see! I'll find out!"  
Honestly. As if he thought he could keep anything from her! That man,  
really! She knew him inside and out!  
So when he turned back and scowled, saying "You better not" in a  
somber voice, it stunned her.  
  
**  
  
"When I was a kid," Yaten said as they sprawled on the floor of the  
studio one gray lunch hour, "we used to have races around the castle corridors  
on rainy days. All the grownups hated it." He squinted into the harsh  
fluorescent light and tilted his head back. Minako propped up her chin with  
two hands, lying on her stomach, long flowery skirt spread out in wrinkled  
pleats all over the floor. "Seiya always won. I was terrible."  
"You were?" she said lazily, sucking on a grape.  
"Hated that stuff. Still do," he snorted. "Hated getting sweaty.  
Actually," and he cocked his head at this, "I used to run into people on  
purpose, so we would get caught and sent to our rooms." He chuckled amusedly,  
and she echoed with a small giggle. "If you ever see them again, don't tell  
'em!" His voice dropped to a stage whisper.  
"Hmmm." She let out a long sound. "Another one of your deep dark  
secrets, I see."  
He laughed. "Yeah. Loved rainy days, though. When I could get a  
moment to myself, it was great to sit by a window and write."  
"Write?" she echoed.  
"Yeah. Thoughts, stories, memories. I kept a journal. Surprised?"  
Minako shrugged. "A little. You don't surprise me much anymore,  
though. I think I've got you down pretty well."  
He sniffed snobbily. "Says you."  
"Mm, hm!" All of a sudden she was sitting up straight, and he leaned  
back as she drew her shoulders in close. "That's it," she teased, "I know  
almost all your secrets, pretty boy, and I'm going to know them all before I'm  
through. You can't hide from Detective Minako, no sir! So don't even try to  
keep it from me!"  
Laughing openly, he winked an eye. "And what, pray tell, am I keeping  
from you?"  
The answer came before his words had faded from the air. "Your Love  
Song."  
Stormclouds passed over his features. "Minako..." he began. "It's a  
secret."  
"So what?" Her pout was like that of an injured animal. "So is your  
identity, Mister Mystery, and I figured that out!"  
"Luck, luck." He waved his hand dismissingly, but his look was  
nervous.  
She frowned. "Was not. It was kismet, Yaten-chan," adding the  
endearment teasingly, "fate, karma, destiny. And you shouldn't mess with  
destiny."  
He did not like the way this conversation was going. "Don't mess with  
my project," he warned. A sudden bite to his words made her sit back, pause,  
and then lean in toward him.  
"...I am going to find out." She pressed emphasis on each word, and  
Yaten shrunk from her gaze. Her eyes were blazing with a sudden intensity  
that both scared and thrilled him. But...  
His hands came down like vises on her wrists. "No, you're not," he  
said in a voice like quiet steel. She drew back, wounded, and stared at him,  
nursing her reddened wrists. The thundering in his ears was staggering, and  
despite his best efforts, all he could do was sit and maintain his stern  
expression as she slowly got up.  
"Well," she said briskly, though her limbs were still shaking.  
"You've got to get back to work now."  
He started. "Minako--"  
"Really!" She smiled, but Yaten was feeling such trembling from her  
star, he wasn't fooled. "Can't keep all those fans waiting. Go and  
practice!" She babbled her way to the door, yammering on so that he couldn't  
interject a single phrase before she disappeared. He cursed and kicked a  
chair. Something was going horribly wrong!  
  
**  
  
"Ne, ne," came a musical voice. Tohru looked up from the control  
board and beheld a goddess.  
Blonde hair sparkling in a luminescent cloud, the girl approached him,  
her figure swaying. Azure eyes peeked out from behind long lashes, blinking  
just a little too often to be unconscious. She came up to him and leaned  
forward, resting her elbows on the panel and giving him quite a view of...  
well, he couldn't even think about it. Tohru tried desperately not to look at  
the sight she offered him, but despite his modesty, the blood was already  
rushing uncomfortably to his head. He wiped his nose defensively, relieved  
that it wasn't bleeding quite yet.  
Minako smiled inwardly. She'd considered a number of different  
approaches. Impersonating a member of the staff was a good idea, but this was  
a small project, and this guy might well know everyone working on it.  
Briefly, she'd considered enlisting a friend go in for her, but thrown that  
idea out almost immediately. She didn't want her friends in on this, her  
beautiful little secret that kept her missing in action for afternoons at a  
time. No, this method was definitely where her... talents... lay. It was  
really a burden, being so beautiful! "What are you doing?" she asked in her  
best ingenue voice, widening her eyes and pouting slightly.  
Tohru stuttered. "Uh, I'm-- um-- working on the mix for the album."  
"Ooooh," she sighed, leaning further forward and causing Tohru to gulp  
and look away in embarrassment. "Is that Yaten-kun's album?"  
"Er, yeah," he stammered. "You're his friend, uh, right?"  
"Un," she nodded. "Can I listen?" She let doubt flicker across his  
face, then delivered the lethal blow. "Pleeeeeease?" Against an attack like  
that, Tohru had no hope of survival. Swallowing hard, he took the headphones  
off his head and handed them over. Minako made a show of putting them on and  
adjusting them over her own ears, closing her eyes and humming contentedly.  
When her eyes slitted open again, Tohru flipped the switch.  
She kept the smile on her face, but frowned inwardly. She knew this  
song. It was one of the songs Yaten had sung on the original Three Lights  
album. A nice song, and Yaten's voice had improved a great deal since his  
days with the group, but definitely NOT the Love Song she was looking for.  
She stared at the hapless sound technician again. "Will you do me a lit-t-tle  
favor?" she drawled.   
He just stared, having a vague feeling he was being jerked around but  
not really caring.  
"Will you play for me... the Love Song?"  
Tohru reached for the track select button.  
A slam sounded from below in the studio, and both Minako and Tohru  
jumped. Looking through the glass, they saw a rather annoyed Yaten Kou  
stomping in and examining his sheet music intently. "Now what's the matter  
with him," Tohru wondered out loud, gazing down at the studio floor for a few  
seconds. Then he looked up at his guest, or at least tried to.   
She was gone.  
  
**  
  
"Tsukino resid... oh, hi, Minako-chan! Wow, you haven't come to  
Rei-chan's in ages. Where have you been keeping yourself? ...What do you  
mean, a secret?   
"Huh? What would I do? Er, I'd just ask them, I guess. ...Well, I'd  
ask them again the next day!   
"Hmm... I don't know. I'd have to think about it... over a hot fudge  
sundae and maybe an arcade game or two, yeah, that's what I'd do. In fact, I  
think I'll make Mamo-chan treat me to some ice cream, and then I'll call you  
back! ...Hello? Minako-chan? Are you there?"  
  
"Hello, Hino residence. ...Where have you been!? Even Artemis still  
comes to the study sessions, and he says he doesn't know where you disappear  
to after school. ...Huh? That's a weird question, Minako-chan. Well, I'll  
tell you if you tell me where you've been lately.  
"Fall for what? ...Who, me? Try and trick you? Well, okay, maybe I  
would. But that's your answer, I guess. If someone was keeping a secret from  
me, I'd definitely try something sneaky to make them tell me. What is this  
about, anyway? ...Hello?"  
  
"Mizuno residence. Oh? What is it? ...Minako-chan, I don't believe  
you! You haven't come to a single study session in the past week, and you're  
asking me a favor? Studying should be your first priority, you know...   
"WHAT!? I am not going to hack into someone else's computer system  
for you!"  
  
"Hello? ...Oh, hold on, Minako-chan, let me just get these brownies  
out of the oven...  
"Hi, sorry 'bout that. What's up? ...Advice? Does this have  
something to do with a boy? What do you mean, maybe? Oh, forget it, just  
tell me what's going on.  
"A secret, hmm? Well, is this boy small enough that you can push him  
around? ...Eep, don't shriek in my ear, Minako-chan. I didn't mean that it  
HAD to be a boy. I was just making a generalization. No, really! Hmm, no, I  
suppose you don't like to back people into corners. Want me to do it for you?  
Sorry!  
"Well, I don't know. I might try and bribe them with some goodies.  
Oh, wait. Minako-chan, if you really want to get a secret out of someone, do  
me a favor... DON'T bake for them. No, it's just that they might not live  
long enough to tell you what you want to know...  
"Augh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"  
  
**  
  
Furueru mune ni wa, ano hi no himitsu no kiss...  
[Trembling in my heart is the secret kiss that day...]  
  
Yaten paused, black ink slowly spreading across the page where his pen  
was pressed a little too firmly against the paper. Those lyrics seemed  
familiar, somehow-- he was reasonably sure he'd heard them somewhere before.  
He crumpled the page in his left hand and tossed it aside. Frowning, he  
turned back to his notebook.  
Upstairs, he heard the flick of switches and he knew the dance school  
was closing for the night. The janitor's heavy mop had provided a heavy,  
plodding rhythm that had lulled Yaten into a kind of trance, but when it  
stopped its shuffling, an uncomfortable silence descended. The flow of  
creativity had stopped abruptly, bringing him back to full consciousness.  
Cold, as always, he thought with a shiver. He pulled the blanket a  
little tighter around his shoulders and blew on his cupped hands. As a  
musician, he knew about silences. But this was not the relaxing quiet of that  
time just before sleep, nor was it peaceful as moments of tranquility could  
be. This was the kind of silence that heightened a song, leaving something  
unresolved hanging in the air for just a little too long. A silence that  
begged to move, that begged to be broken. And Yaten was its prisoner.  
He stood up, paced, sat back down, drew tiny squares on the open page  
of the notebook. It must have been after ten o'clock. His squares turned  
into circles, which turned into eyes. He got up again. Pace, pace. The eyes  
looked up. Down. He was aware of his head pounding, not hurting, just making  
some noise in the dead air. He looked at the pile of crumpled papers on the  
floor. The eyes looked at him. He flipped a few pages back, forcing those  
probing stares behind their paper eyelids, and surveyed the song lyrics he'd  
written. They were good. Good enough to use in the concert, even. He  
resolved to add them if the crowd was receptive.  
Something was wrong. Different. After a long and exhausting day, he  
usually dropped off to sleep quickly, and awoke early. Did not matter whether  
the day was good or bad, if it was busy-- and his days always were-- he'd be  
asleep in minutes. But it had been an hour. Two? He tried to look at his  
watch in the dim glare of the single naked bulb glowing in this basement room.  
Everything was bluish in its light. His eyes failed to register the exact  
time. Late o'clock, he noted disjointedly. Maybe two, because it was too  
late o'clock.  
He grabbed his jacket. There was no way he could stay here a minute  
longer. It was dry, dry, and there were showers falling elsewhere. Sweet,  
cool, green showers. Hardly registering anything he was doing, Yaten walked  
up the dark steps and ventured out into the late night.  
His world was surreal. It wouldn't be till later that he realized  
he'd walked the complex route to the studio at Takeuchi Music. Now, he just  
felt he was a man in a dark, cold desert, following the promise of water to an  
oasis somewhere else in this giant laboratory maze. A thirsty mouse. He  
clenched a fist and realized there was no longer a pen in his hand, but a key.  
The key to the back entrance of the studio. He must have picked it up on his  
way out. He inserted it into the lock that was suddenly right in front of  
him.  
Ah, now these walls reverberated with rhythm, even in the silence of  
the night. He felt vaguely uneasy, as if something was amiss. But it was  
warm, and he accelerated his footsteps toward the practice room he called his  
own, where he kept all of his projects. The doorknob was warm to the touch.  
He opened it.  
And all the vague premonitions and vibrating warnings snapped into  
immediate focus.  
  
Yaten was now completely awake, gasping for breath but unable to fill  
his lungs with air. He felt like a statue, and at the same time like he'd  
been slammed against a brick wall. His eyes and lips quivered with horror,  
and betrayal splashed the walls of the small room blood red. A single thought  
yawned through the cavern of his mind.   
No.  
Panicking, Minako tried to blind him with the flashlight and run. But  
her eyes were suddenly wet, and she couldn't see. She tripped over a chair  
and crashed to the floor, the impact shaking some of the loose papers on the  
bureau to the floor. Swearing, she tried to straighten up and escape the  
evidence that was lying all around her. One black-gloved hand rose to her  
face in shame and agony.  
She'd been going through his papers. Yaten wheeled on the axis of  
this realization like a broken record endlessly replaying a scratch that  
warped the melody. She'd come here, dressed up like a catburglar, and gotten  
into his room so she could go through his papers. His friend had done this.  
Or the person he'd called a friend. "Why?" came the whisper from his pursed  
lips, and even before the sound had escaped, he knew the answer.   
Minako felt hot streams of tears on her cheeks. Her knee throbbed  
painfully from the impact of the fall. Stinging eyes couldn't tear themselves  
away from Yaten's face, even paler than it normally was, thin and quivering  
with shock. She'd driven a knife straight through him. Her hands felt hot,  
as if there was actually a dagger in her grasp, blood slipping to the ground  
in sticky red lines. She wanted to hang her head, but the defiance in the  
base of her chest kept her sitting up straight, burning into his frozen eyes.  
"I thought... we were friends," he whispered, squeezing the words out  
with painful pressure from his deflated chest. His jaw trembled.  
She glared up at him. "I thought we were too," she said in a low,  
heated voice.  
"How..." the anger in her tone registering in his mind, "how could you  
do this to me?"  
Grasping the chair tightly, she fought her way up to a standing  
position. No way was he going to look down on her during this battle.  
"You're the one," she gritted her teeth, "who had to keep secrets from me."  
The tears building up behind his eyes burst forth in a flood. "I  
thought you understood!"  
"How?" Her voice accused him. Him, who'd found her sneaking around  
like a common thief! "How can I understand it when you refuse to tell me the  
one thing I want most to know?"  
"You know why!" he shouted. "I thought you respected me as an artist!  
I had my reasons!"  
"I thought you respected me, as a person!" Shouting escalated to  
screeching, and then wobbled back down to the heated fire of low breaths. "I  
really thought... that we were... that you were starting to share things with  
me."  
Breaths were hard to come by. "I was. I did..."  
"You did."  
"Just not that. Just not that."  
"Why? Why that? Why couldn't you tell me? Was it just to drive me  
crazy, so I could sleep at night wondering?"  
"...No, no," he interrupted, his whole body trembling with his voice.  
"It wasn't that..." Furueru mune ni wa, sang a sudden voice in his mind, and  
he smashed it violently, howling. "Why couldn't you trust me?"  
"That's what I want to know!" she wailed. Pain soared like a high  
note on an electric guitar. "Why didn't you tell me? Why was it such a  
secret?"  
Ano hi no himitsu no...   
He gnashed his teeth in an effort to make the song go away. Nails bit  
into the flesh of his clenched fist.  
"Well, fine!" she sobbed. "If you don't want me to know, then that's  
just fine! But don't expect me to wait around to find out like the rest of  
the world. I just don't care anymore!" She limped toward the door. Every  
nerve in Yaten's body wanted to grab her as she shuffled past him with hurt  
and anger in her eyes. But every paralyzed muscle protested. "Have a good  
concert tomorrow night, Yaten," she said in a frigid voice. "Maybe I'll come  
to your next one."  
For what was not the first time in his life, Yaten Kou found himself  
facing the door of an empty room.  
  
**  
  
"Mako-chan! Mako-chan!" Pound, pound, pound. "C'mon, Mako-chan,  
wake up. I know you're in there!"  
Behind the door, muffled grumblings sounded, and then a series of  
clicks near the keyhole. The face that appeared when the door finally cracked  
open was haggard and confused. "What on earth, Minako-chan? Do you know what  
time it is?" Then the green eyes widened at the sight of the girl's sorrowful  
countenance. "...Come in."  
Minako took a trembling step into the apartment, then another, and  
Makoto watched her teeter like a china doll on the verge of falling from the  
mantel and smashing on the bricks below. She caught the blonde in her strong  
arms, and Minako drooped against her like a soggy leaf of paper.  
"Mako-chan..." she wept, her wails coming long and loud and full of  
heartbreak. Makoto led her to the table and sat her down, still holding her  
in a supportive embrace.   
"Let it out," she soothed as Minako's long sobs shook and bruised  
against her shoulder. "That's it. Let it out, girl. It's all right." She  
stroked the blonde yards of hair draped over Minako's back. "It's all right."  
They sat there, Minako's head buried in the taller girl's shoulder,  
for a long time. The clock ticked and tocked the minutes away, a metronome  
maintaining the movement of time when all else stood frozen. A slight wind  
blew against the door to the apartment, harshly breathing warnings of a  
rainstorm to come. Makoto closed her eyes. All was still.  
After some time, Minako's wailings softened to gentle sobs; sobs to  
tremblings; and tremblings to brief sniffles that came every few seconds, as  
she gulped for air. Finally, she straightened up, and Makoto released the  
girl from her embrace, holding one of her hands as the other wiped away errant  
tears and rubbed at splotchy skin. Minako heaved several tremulous sighs,  
gave a final choking sob, and then swallowed hard, shutting her eyes tight.  
As she opened them again, she gave a shaky smile. "Arigatou..."  
"Are you okay, Minako-chan?" Makoto knew better than to ask more than  
that.  
"Un..." she nodded. The red flush to her cheeks made her beautiful in  
the grayness. "Mako-chan, is it okay if I stay here tonight?"  
"Of course, of course," Makoto said, soothingly, touching the blonde's  
face gently. "Let me get some sheets for you, okay?"  
Minako nodded, swallowing several times. Makoto's touch could be so  
maternal, she already felt a warmth begin to thaw the freezing rain in her  
heart. With a cup of herbal tea, the rest of the rain gave way to drowsy  
heat, and she lay down on the couch, hugging the quilt Makoto had brought to  
her chest, breathing regularly for the first time in hours.  
Makoto kneeled by her side. "You just sleep. Call me if you need  
anything, okay?" The girl nodded. "And in the morning..." she added in a  
measured voice, "...if you want to... you can talk to me. Goodnight,  
Minako-chan." She smiled and left the exhausted girl to doze.  
  
**  
  
Yaten's eyes crept open, much to his displeasure. The first thing he  
noticed was that there was light, despite the grayness outside the window. It  
seemed to be coming from above him, or behind him. Then, wrinkling his nose,  
his face and mind started to come alive... with aching in his neck and  
stinging behind his eyes, and a feeling of overall unpleasantness.   
It was a few more moments before Yaten realized he had fallen asleep  
in the studio, that he had never made it back to his room last night. Sitting  
up in the chair he'd slept in, he stretched his arms painfully, rotated his  
neck, and brought his fists down to rest on the desk in front of him. Ouch.  
His shoulders cracked as he rolled them back.  
The dull light was so painful to his throbbing head, and he staggered  
to the wall to turn it off. The room fell immediately into shades of gray, a  
dull patch of light from the window the only illumination. The room's corners  
were black and ominous. After rubbing his eyes thoroughly to get the residue  
of a bad night's sleep out, he sat in one of those corners and watched rain  
pelt mutely against the windowpane.  
What had happened here... had happened after all, he thought, and the  
dryness of his eyes stung so hard that he had to rub them again. The place  
seemed cursed, and he wanted to run away from it... if only his body would  
agree. But as horrible as it was to think of it all, it was also draining...  
the energy to escape just was not there.  
He cleared his throat. His voice was so boyish, he thought with a  
pang of disgust. Boyish and breathy and not a good singer's voice at all.  
Throb, throb, went his head, and he dropped it into his hands. How had he  
been doing this all this time? How could he think he'd succeed?  
Now, at least, the scratching of his eyes began to give way to a thin  
layer of liquid. Looking down, he sighed inwardly at the relief of having  
them fill with tears that then slid down his cheeks and into his mouth. At  
their wonderfully salty taste, his tongue curled, and his stomach rumbled in  
answer. The prodding need of hunger brought him slowly prickling back into  
the real world, and he got to his feet, lumbering like a dinosaur as he  
straightened up. He opened the door hesitantly.  
The world was swirling back and forth, and Yaten nearly fainted. The  
bright lights of the halls were all on, and people were running back and forth  
with clipboards and instruments and briefcases and masks of panic. Shouting  
rang out. "Get me Hisakawa on the phone..." "..not going to..." "...We've got  
to do something about this right away..." "...damn it! We can't..."  
"Move it, come on, we don't have all day!" Like a blind man in a traffic jam,  
Yaten stumbled forward a few paces, taking it all in but not understanding any  
of it. Until a roaring voice rang through like a rumble of thunder.  
"Yaten-san!"  
Yaten looked up, bleary-eyed, and recognized the familiar red beard.  
"Taishi-san...?"  
"My god, man, where have you been?" The veins in Taishi's neck were  
uncomfortably pronounced. Yaten stared at them with a kind of grotesque  
fascination. "Have you been hiding in that damn room all day?"  
"All... day?" Yaten echoed in disbelief.  
"Never mind," said Taishi, slinging an arm around the confused boy.  
"You've got to get down to the Forum, now!"  
  
Somehow or other, Taishi managed to usher Yaten into a car, and it was  
several slick streets before the batting of the rain on the windowpane woke  
Yaten up. "Tai... shi-san," he yawned slowly, as the blood rushed to his  
head. All at once, his eyes popped open. "Oh! What time is it? Where are  
we going?"  
"It's five-thirty," Taishi growled, looking slightly peeved but mostly  
concerned. "And your concert starts at eight, remember? Now come on, we're  
here, get out of the car." Yaten obeyed, shaking his head back and forth in  
confusion and disbelief.  
Crewmen walked by with ladders. A voice echoed lighting and sound  
cues, and microphone feedback screeched through the auditorium as purple and  
yellow spots flashed blindingly. Yaten moved in and out of the backstage  
latticework, still shaking his head. Taishi followed a few steps behind,  
occasionally barking an order at a passing lackey, but mostly gazing at his  
charge with a worried expression on his round face. Around the scaffolding  
Yaten went, trailing his hand over it, and then out to the stage, where he  
paused at the edge, staring out into the endless rows of seats and even more  
endless arenas where the audience would stand, packing as many people into one  
space as possible. Huge TV screens hung from the ceiling on steel cables,  
matched by a multitude of video cameras pointed at the stage. White light  
flooded his eyes, and for a moment Yaten was sure he could hear the crowd  
cheering. But this time, Seiya and Taiki were not beside him. And he felt an  
intense pang of loneliness. How could he have done this, all by himself, with  
no support from anybody?  
That's not true, warned an inner voice. You had support. Don't you  
remember?  
("I shall pray for you and miss you daily, as will the others, and all  
our people," said the Princess, smiling benevolently. "Know that we will  
always be here for you if you need a home, and that you will never lose your  
place in our hearts.")  
The faraway Princess. His eyes filled with tears again... how could  
there be so many tears in him? The last time he had been on this stage, they  
were searching for her. And now he was alone again.  
("Everything's going according to plan, Yaten-san," reassured Taishi.  
"Everything on my end, at least... I just hope...")  
A man whose star he felt dimly behind him, who had become a mentor and  
almost friend. Yaten knew he was worrying him, and that he had a lot of  
explaining to do.  
("You guys are amazing, don't you know that!?")  
The smile that had begun to light the crevices of Yaten's face faded  
again. And the bitterness rose in his throat...  
  
"I'm not going to do it," he scowled, turning around abruptly and  
starting to walk off. Taishi started to call out, but the cry caught, choked  
and strangled, in his throat. Yaten moved as fast as he could, hearing his  
shoes slap against the wooden slats of the stage and echo through the  
microphones into the empty auditorium. All of a sudden, all the bustling  
technicians seemed silent. He didn't care. The bitterness in his chest was  
wailing a song loud enough for him.  
Then, his arms were trapped, and he was walking nowhere at an angry  
pace. Taishi had overtaken him, and was holding him down with huge bear  
hands. "Let me go!" Yaten struggled, but the vise-like grip just grew  
tighter.   
Taishi stared him down. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"  
His voice was threatening in its low intensity.   
"I told you!" Yaten rebelled. "I'm not going to do it! Now let me  
go!"  
The growling tone was steady and slow. "Not until you listen to  
reason. Now calm down and tell me what on Earth is going on with you,  
Yaten-san. I've invested millions of dollars in your concert here tonight,  
and you're not backing out without giving me a damn good reason!"  
After a moment or two of continued struggling, Yaten calmed and  
relaxed in Taishi's grip. The bigger man let go, and Yaten hung his head and  
sighed. "Sumimasen, Taishi-san," he said in a voice thick with regret. "But  
I don't think I can do this concert."  
Taishi leaned back. "What happened?"  
"Something..." Yaten's gaze darted about suspiciously. "Something  
happened."  
"Oh," the executive sighed in sudden understanding. "It was her,  
huh?"  
Yaten nodded. Despite their sour taste, the words fought themselves  
to his throat. And when they emerged, he was surprised to hear them.  
"She's..." hearing himself say it made him shudder! "...not... coming."  
Masaka. He'd expected to spit out a bitter tirade about her betrayal,  
how she had violated his trust and his privacy. But when the syllables struck  
his ears, he knew they couldn't be more true. That was the real betrayal.  
That was the ruination of everything he'd worked so hard for. After all this,  
she wasn't coming.  
A long siren note of feedback swept across the microphones and shook  
them both. Yaten was sure he felt a fist clenched in his heart, squeezing a  
stone, bringing everything inside him to an abrupt tension. "I'm so angry,"  
he said, his voice breaking. "I'm so angry!!" His shout set the mikes off  
again, and Taishi winced. "I want to smash something so badly. I'm so  
frustrated. I want to..."  
"You want to..." echoed the red-haired man in a voice suddenly soft  
and even.  
"I want to scream! I want to pound! How could this happen to me?"  
Without even realizing it, Yaten had started to punch and kick the air, in a  
kata that became a kind of dance. Taishi watched as fist and foot flew  
forward, as the singer's lithe body became a spectacular weapon. The sweep of  
an arm. The stamp of a foot. It was merciless. It was pain personified.  
But it was beauty.  
"I feel like if I don't let it out, I'm going to explode!" cried  
Yaten, rage giving way to endless folds of deep sadness. "God, it hurts so  
much... I want to..."  
Once more, Taishi said, "You want to..."  
Yaten's body came to a standstill. Huge, pale green eyes opened wide.  
"I want to..." He gulped at the realization, and gazed at Taishi in wonder.  
The smile started to emerge again. "I want to... sing."  
  
**  
  
Cookie after cookie disappeared off Makoto's tray as crumbs assembled  
like the aftermath of war on the tabletop. After putting away a dozen or so,  
Minako sat back. "Are you sure you don't mind?"  
The chef smiled. "That's why I made them. Besides, a girl who sleeps  
all day has got to be hungry when she finally wakes up. Let me know if  
there's anything more I can get to."  
"Thanks so much, Mako-chan. You're really being too nice to me."  
Minako smiled gratefully.  
Removing her apron and hanging it up on a nearby peg, Makoto sat down  
across from her friend. "Now," she said, tilting her head to the side  
slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened?"  
Chocolate had loosened Minako's tongue a bit, and she shrugged. "I  
don't know. I guess I... kind of need someone to share it with, but you've  
got to promise not to tell the others. I mean it. Not even Usagi-chan."  
"Of course not." That look of motherly concern was back, and Minako  
relaxed under its glow. Sighing, she smiled.  
"There's a guy..." she began slowly, and Makoto had enough presence of  
mind not to grin. "A friend of mine, someone I've known for a while but have  
just started to get close to. And he was sharing a lot with me... a lot of  
memories, things he kept private, stuff like that. But there was one thing he  
wouldn't tell me." She sighed. "And I couldn't get my mind off it. So I...  
I went behind his back and tried to find out. I did a lot of really horrible  
things, and he finally caught me at it. And I don't know what to do about it.  
I feel absolutely awful, and I wonder if there's any way I'll ever get his  
friendship back. I think I may have really blown it for good this time." Her  
words were measured, even, but emotion trembled behind them and Makoto sensed  
that there was something more at stake. What, however, was beyond her.  
"It's not even a big deal!" insisted Minako-chan, smiling sadly.  
"You'd think it was some really deep secret about his past or something, but  
it's not. It's practically a joke, a gimmick!"  
"Like that mystery singer," Makoto wondered out loud, letting the  
words trail off just long enough that she couldn't hear Minako catch her  
breath.  
"Yeah," laughed Minako nervously, "something like that. I don't get  
why he wouldn't tell me, though! Why wouldn't he want me to know?"  
A quiet hovered in the room with the smell of home-baked cookies, as  
the two girls contemplated. But when the cuckoo clock struck six, Minako  
jumped, bringing Makoto, too, out of her reverie. "Oh! We gotta go!" she  
said, suddenly panicked.  
"Go? Where?"   
Makoto winked at her. "Speak of the devil, Minako-chan! That mystery  
concert is tonight!" She located her purse and waved five green tickets at  
the blonde. "Remember, we're meeting the others at Crown so we can all go to  
the concert together?"  
Horror filled Minako's face, and she turned away from her friend so as  
to not reveal the contorted expression. Her shoulders shook slightly. "Um,  
Mako-chan, I'm... not so sure I'm up to going tonight."  
"Huh? But you were the one who was so excited about this in the first  
place!" Makoto protested. But staring at her friend's back, she had no  
choice but to acquiesce. "Okay, Minako-chan. But I'm going to leave your  
ticket right here--" she slapped it down on the table-- "just in case you want  
to join us later."  
"Thanks," Minako said in a muffled voice. "I hope you enjoy it,  
Mako-chan."  
Poised at the door, Makoto blew her friend a kiss. "Feel better,  
Minako-chan. You know where to find me."  
  
**  
  
"Waa! I can't see!"  
Rei grumbled. "That's because we're not in the auditorium yet,  
Usagi," she scowled. In response, the girl stuck out her tongue.  
Makoto laughed. "You two, cut it out. We've got to stay together in  
this crowd. Ami-chan, you better not lose us with your nose buried in that  
book."  
"Huh?" said Ami, looking up and adjusting her glasses.  
"For a megagenius, you sure can be clueless sometimes," Makoto ribbed  
her, and the three girls laughed. Usagi grabbed Ami's sleeve and held  
Makoto's arm tight, trying to keep their group together. Slowly, they made  
their way through the turnstile.  
"Hora..." said Rei suddenly, and the girls' heads turned. "Isn't  
that... Michiru-san?"  
"You're right!" called Usagi, and waved frantically, causing poor  
Makoto's arm to wave along with her. "Michiru-saaan!"  
The lovely young violinist turned and smiled at the group. "Good  
evening, everyone," she said.  
"What are you doing here?" teased Usagi. "Don't tell me Haruka-san  
is the mystery musician!"  
Michiru giggled. "If she is, Haruka hasn't told me about it."  
"This isn't exactly your type of concert, though," shrugged Rei. "So  
what brings you here tonight, Michiru-san?"  
The woman closed her eyes briefly and gave a slight, secret smile.  
"I've... been wondering about this concert," she murmured. "It has the  
capacity to be... interesting."  
  
**  
  
The clock ticked. Minako clutched her ticket.   
The softest of sighs sounded so loud when the swinging pendulum and  
the lightly tapping rain were the only sounds. "Mako-chan," she said out loud  
to the empty room, "I wish I could have told you everything."   
  
**  
  
The pavement glittered silver stars as dark water poured down from the  
ominous clouds. An occasional car turned the puddles red or orange, but  
mostly, just the dim streetlamps and the glow of white lights outside the  
Mitsuishi Forum reflected their sparkle in the endless raindrops. It was  
still and cold, and even the concrete seemed to shiver.  
Then, all at once, an inferno split open the sky and a roar came forth  
from the spine of the building and blasted forward into the dark night.  
Clouds rumbled and the earth came alive. The identity of the man behind Boku  
no Love Song had just been revealed.  
  
**  
  
A tiny, persistent bird chirped nine times, and Minako still sat  
there, her fingers drawn tightly around the small, green slip of paper in her  
hand.   
Yaten would be over an hour into his act now, she realized. Soon he'd  
come to the end of it, and then the world would know what she still didn't.  
Her throat was parched, and she longed to become the rain outside the  
apartment window. To satisfy her thirst by becoming that which could. To end  
her quest for love by becoming a lover.  
The strangeness of that analogy hit her sideways, and she frowned.  
Her mind pored over her day's conversation with Makoto, ploddingly, again and  
again, like the thud of drops of water hitting the pavement. "Why wouldn't he  
want me to know?" nagged a horrible, teacher-like voice in the lower left  
corner of her head. Meanwhile, a stooped-over grandmother in the opposite  
corner screeched, "I couldn't get my mind off it!" But in the very front,  
opening her arms out to the poor befuddled girl in the center, was a sweet  
motherly Makoto, asking her again and again, "Don't you want to talk about  
what happened?"  
"I do," said Minako, out loud, surprised at the sound of her voice.  
The mental Minako ran to the arms of her friend, and something bold and  
tremulous grew inside her. The cuckoo clock shivered.  
She swallowed and started to speak again to herself and her imaginary  
audience. "The truth is..."  
Why wouldn't he want me to know?   
Building in the pit of her stomach, a horrified realization spread its  
tentacles through her, filling her limbs with dread, polluting her blood.  
Could it be..?  
"The truth is... I'm in love."  
The cuckoo mocked her, daring her to continue.  
"I have been for a long time."  
Oh God, if it was true, it was almost too late.  
"I'm in love with Yaten Kou."  
  
**  
  
Pounding feet and flying hair, wet streams in sticky strands and  
fogging breath that puffed and condensed against red cheeks before it even had  
a chance to form. The cold air was awful, heavy and foul-tasting, but that  
didn't stop the panting breaths from sucking it in painfully. Rain beat  
against thick eyelashes already swimming in a wall of tears.  
Oh, stupid, stupid, stupid Minako, her mental voice chided just as  
breathlessly as her real voice would have. How could you have taken so long  
to figure this out. How could you not have realized it till now. She  
sniffled and choked on the rain. It explains everything, everything. And  
still you didn't see.  
A sheaf of darkness fell before her eyes, and with impatient hands she  
threw the length of soggy hair back. She was a creature of strange colors  
this dim and soaking night: blonde hair turned blackish green in the downpour,  
pallid cheeks flushed red with exertion and desperation. Some sort of weird  
nightmarish nymph, sprinting through the city streets.  
And now the white lights of the Mitsuishi Forum were in sight, rain  
falling through a hazy glowing sphere and returning to invisible darkness.  
Please don't let me be too late, she prayed silently, clasping her wet hands  
with a loud smacking sound. Please, Yaten, don't start your Love Song yet. I  
want to be there for it. I want to be there for you.  
  
The doors flew open as lightning glared frighteningly in the  
background. In the empty lobby of the Forum, even the short slip of a girl  
was an intimidating figure as she burst through, all flying hair and dark  
scowls. Running up to the nearest usher with a determined expression, she  
showed him her ticket silently as the pounding bass started to vibrate through  
her feet into her suddenly shaking legs. He nodded, and she took flight,  
vaulting over the turnstile with a grace born of desperation.  
Through the halls she raced, heart keeping time with the music she  
could just barely feel shaking the walls. Reaching a door, she clung to it,  
drawing long shuddering breaths as she regained her center. Swallowing her  
fatigue, she pulled on the handle.   
Veiled music blasted forth at her, and she winced at its sudden  
attack. She was facing a barrier of backs, packed tighter than she could have  
imagined, and her heart smiled at the success of his campaign. Now she could  
hear his voice above the wail of the saxophone and the deep strings of the  
bass. She jumped up again and again, trying to catch a glimpse of his face,  
so far away from where she stood, in the back of the back of the crowd.   
What was this song? She moved in a little further, but couldn't  
breach the brick wall of bodies, no matter how she pushed or pulled or slipped  
from one side to the other. This wasn't a song she'd ever heard him sing, so  
(dodging a wild flailing arm) how did she know it? She remembered it as being  
a little faster, a little higher maybe. But she knew it.  
A scream in her ear, and then "don't forget me, most of all..." An air  
pocket! She slipped in to fill it. "From here, we'll watch..." How come she  
was so sure the verse he was starting was actually the first verse, although  
he was singing it second? Her eyes wandered frantically, and she considered  
vaulting up and using the audience as a pit of stepping stones, leaping from  
head to poor fan's head. Then she turned her head in another direction, and  
all of a sudden she was staring straight into his eyes.  
The Yaten on the screen seemed to be looking right at her, and she  
stared breathlessly into those huge pixilated eyes, marveling at how beautiful  
their pale green color was. He caressed the microphone, breathing each word  
as if it were something tender and precious. This was his Love Song. And in  
another half moment, she realized she was singing the words along with him,  
melody just barely coating the breath of the lyrics in a shaking voice. "Open  
your eyes and look straight ahead... kiss me for the last time..."  
  
Wait.  
  
That wasn't what he'd sung.  
He'd sung "Kiss me for the first time..."  
And suddenly she knew the song.   
  
So many different kinds of tears had fallen from Minako's glittering  
eyes today, but these were the first that rolled down her cheeks of their own  
accord. Her lashes trembled. A slow, sweet breath whistled as her pursed  
mouth pulled it in. All at once she was aware of every tear she'd cried,  
every step she'd taken, every straining muscle and aching stretch of skin.  
Fatigue trembled through her, nearly making her collapse, but at the same time  
a new electricity was pulsing through her, white and blue currents. She  
hugged herself tight, closing her eyes, and for a few blessed moments, she  
sang in unison with the man she loved. "I won't forget you, for most of all,  
I love you." Then she ran, nearly flew, out of the auditorium toward a  
destination unknown, as the speakers resounded with the last few notes of...  
  
"Route Venus," Yaten said into the microphone. "Ladies and  
gentlemen... that's Yaten's Love Song."  
  
**  
  
"Let me in! Let me in!" screamed the girl. "I have to see Yaten!"  
The security guards held her at bay, but the thrashing arms and legs dealt out  
bruises by the barrelful. This one was seriously disturbed. Tears streaming  
down her face, blonde hair slightly damp... she was beautiful, but definitely  
as crazed a fan as they'd ever seen. Taishi chuckled and went back to  
congratulate his star.  
  
A million cameras clicked as Yaten emerged from his dressing room and  
started to walk down the long, green-walled hall. Microphones in his face,  
flashings and jabberings on every side. Smiling, he greeted the press in  
between panting and wiping the sweat off his brow. His heart was hammering  
away. "Thanks, thanks so much," he called to the clusters of reporters whose  
praises were gushing through his ears like so much floodwater. Seeing Taishi  
at the end of the hall, he raised a hand to his friend and manager.  
"Well done, my boy, well done!" Taishi clapped Yaten on the back,  
making him cough, and the reporters laughed. "Ladies and gentlemen of the  
press," he announced, turning to the crowd, "I give you Yaten Kou!"  
Applause broke out in the clustered corridor. "Think you have time to  
sign some autographs?" Taishi asked. "There are some girls out there who are  
just about killing themselves to get close to you."  
Yaten gulped. "Uh, yeah, I guess so," he said, disappointment  
flickering at the corner of his face for a brief moment.  
Taishi responded by wrapping a burly arm around the lean boy's  
shoulders, drawing him in close so the paparazzi couldn't hear. "Cheer up. I  
know it's not much consolation now, but there are plenty of ladies on the  
other side of that door who'd like to make you forget all about her." He  
laughed. "I'd stay away from the blonde with the bow in her hair, though.  
She's giving the security guards quite a workout. Definitely over the top,  
that one." He grinned, then was shocked into silence by the sudden hollowness  
in Yaten's eyes. The pupils were growing smaller and smaller, huge green  
irises suddenly fading to yellow. Then Taishi's arm was clutching air.  
  
"Yaten-kun!!"  
"I think I hear footsteps, guys!"  
"Ohmygod, he's coming!"  
"I can't believe this, I'm gonna faint..."  
"...The door!"  
Screams erupted as the silver-haired singer threw open the stage door  
and looked around impatiently. The security personnel braced themselves for  
the onslaught of eager female bodies and skyrocketing shrieks. Some of the  
girls had broken through the first line of guards and were now squealing from  
behind the strong arms of a second blue-jacketed row. "Yaten-kun! I love  
you!" "Yaten-kun!" A multitude of reaching arms and thrashing legs, some  
grabbing a handful of blazer despite the guards, some pulling at the whipping  
silver ponytail.   
Yaten winced but didn't register the grabs and touches and shrieks.  
His eyes pored over the crowd, further and further from his position just  
outside the stage door, and then darkened in disappointment. Guess not.  
Sighing, he forced a smile onto his face and said, "Hi, everyone!" Happy  
squeals pervaded the crowd, and Yaten shrugged to himself. Still, this was  
the good life, he thought, as he started to accept pens and programs being  
pushed forth from the swelling crowd. "With love," he said out loud as he  
wrote, "Yaten Kou. There you go!" He took up a second, then a third, pen and  
paper, all the time enduring the shouts and squeaks of thrilled teenage girls,  
attempting to quell the disappointment that swam like a murky red soup in the  
bottom of his soul.  
And then, he heard a shriek different in tone from all the others.  
This one was desperate. This one was crying. "Yaten! Yaten!" He dropped  
the pen and looked up. A hush fell over the crowd, and they followed his gaze  
to the back of the packed alleyway. Struggling and sobbing, being held at bay  
by two battered and beaten security guards, was the girl Taishi had talked  
about...  
He walked toward her. The abusive throng had somehow transformed into  
a quiet mass, as though they were allowing a funeral procession to pass. The  
guards, who had turned to Yaten with apologetic looks, were stunned by his  
gaze and let go of the struggling girl. Amazingly, when she was released, the  
hysterics disappeared. She stood still for a long moment. He took a step  
forward. And then she started walking, boldly through the surreal Red Sea of  
people, her face still and confident and tranquil. Yaten felt his hands reach  
forward.  
She came right up to him and buried her head in the hollow of his  
shoulder.  
The silence gave way to a low buzzing, the crowd pressing and swelling  
from side to side, but not closing the wide gap. Was Yaten Kou giving out  
hugs to fans tonight? How he had changed from his obnoxious days with the  
Lights! So much more romantic now and everything, and don't you want to be  
next in line? Yet something kept the excitement from overflowing, the mob  
from approaching the sacred circle which had formed around Yaten and the  
blonde girl he was holding so tenderly. Perhaps it was the desire to see what  
would happen next.  
Minako lifted her head at the insistent tugs of Yaten's fingers  
against her cheek. He cradled her face, touching her hair one small strand at  
a time, his fingers drawing lines between her ears and the edges of her lips  
and back again. Minako heard the labored rasping of his breaths. "Gomen ne,  
Yaten," she said seriously, her voice a sweet, low note. Her eyes glittered  
with a sparkle too warm for Yaten's still-awestruck gaze; he gasped audibly  
and shivered. His mouth, slightly open, invited Minako's fingers. She moved  
her hand up his spine and across his shoulders, drawing a path to his pale  
face.  
She seemed dimly aware of flashbulbs popping in the distance, maybe  
the confused voice of a faraway admirer or two. But mostly, she wanted to  
trace the outline of his mouth with her fingers. So she did, avoiding the  
kisses he vainly attempted to press on her hand. The insistence of his mouth,  
pursing under her touch, made her giggle, and the silence was thus broken.  
"Mi... Minako..." His voice broke as the tears came again, and she  
dried them with her soft fingers. A sad smile lit her face.  
"I know, Yaten," she said in a dim, low voice. "I understand, now."  
The glissando of emotion broke around Yaten like a wave. If he could  
have wrapped his arms three, four times about her, he would have. But as it  
was, he just gathered her form up and pulled her in so close that his fingers  
brushed the elbow of his other arm. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the scent of  
her so close, so delicate but so confident next to him. Then she brought his  
face to hers again. Trembling, they kissed briefly. Then longer, surer,  
shades of light hair sifting together. Minako felt or heard a swelling, an  
exploding. Only later did she realize it was the crowd erupting in cheers.  
  
**  
  
Shivering white limbs and golden hair against white sheets. Intense  
blue eyes wide, staring upward at a paler pair of eyes, focused a little  
lower. She slid one white hand onto his cheek, feeling his skin. She  
imagined powdered sugar and snow, so light and hovering and ready to fall at  
any moment.  
He blinked briefly at the sudden touch of sugar against his cheek, and  
looked down smilingly -- hair, gold and silver, loose and endless-- simple  
curve of a waist, long arms and legs and a face, pale, calm, inviting,  
needing.  
She smiled tremulously, then pressed her dry lips together. Yaten  
closed his eyes for a moment at this gesture, moaning very softly. It hurt to  
look at her sometimes. But his own very beautiful Minako-- breathtaking and  
all his and waiting, asking to be loved. And by him. The ache was a sweet  
one. She was so beautiful. He tried hard to swallow, the green eyes blinking  
again.  
For minutes he just stared. White on white. So cool and pristine and  
untouchable, like a fresh snowfall, but begging to be touched, to be ruined,  
forever changed, completed. And golden and silver strands like the strings of  
an angel's harp. Pale lovers on ivory sheets in an airy room. Pure white.  
But like the beginning of a storm, rumbling somehow, aquamarine eyes  
oozed a silent question, mysterious liquid swelling like laps of the ocean  
against fine sands of a white beach. And her cheeks flushed pink, darkening  
the color of her skin from purity toward passion. Yaten could feel his own  
skin responding, red rushing to his face too. She was so lovely and he was so  
afraid, but he belonged here with her. And just before the tide overtook  
these sandy shores, he leaned down to whisper in her small ear, "I love you."  
  
**  
  
"Hora!! Minako-chan!!"  
Rei stomped toward her friend, brandishing a book. "Is this kind of  
thing LEGAL!?"  
Minako grinned wickedly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Rei-chan," she  
said, taking another bite of ice cream.  
"I'm serious!" She frowned, slamming on the table and causing the  
whipped cream to jump a half-inch off the sundae and come splashing down on  
the dish right beside it. "You can go to JAIL for this kind of thing, can't  
you?"  
"It's called a ROMANCE novel, Rei-chan," Minako admonished, peeved at  
the loss of her ice cream. "People write them all the time. Not only that,  
people read them all the time, or should I start listing the titles of the  
collection under your bed?" Reddening, Rei shushed her and sat down.  
"Forgive Rei-chan," said Makoto with a self-deprecating smile. "It is  
different when it's your friend behind those scantily clad people on the  
cover."  
"You make it sound so crass!" pouted Minako. "What's the matter with  
two people in love expressing their love for each other?" Usagi nodded firmly  
in agreement, making a number of silly noises.  
"She's just jealous," theorized Rei, raising her spoon like a  
lecturer's pointer. "Cause unlike SOME of us, Mako-chan hasn't had a  
boyfriend yet this year."  
"Oh, come off it!" Makoto retorted. "Yeesh, the minute you make up  
with Yuuichirou, you're busy rubbing it in the rest of our faces. I'll find  
another guy when the time is right!"  
"Or when you see someone..." started Rei, and the rest of the girls  
filled in the blank. "...who looks like senpai!" Makoto hung her head,  
sighing in annoyance. "Aw, c'mon," Rei nudged her, "we wouldn't say it if we  
didn't love you. 'Course, we also wouldn't say it if it weren't true..."   
Makoto's fists clenched, and she began to roar at Rei when something  
poked her in the back. Her face contorted into a series of funny expressions  
before she finally wheeled and shouted, "Ami-chan, if you want to read  
Minako's book, then just take it, already!!"  
A red face behind a set of fogged-up glasses peeked upwards. "Gomen  
nasai!"  
  
Minako leaned back, licking hot fudge off her spoon. "Don't worry,  
Mako-chan. I'm sure you'll find someone special," she said in a calm tone  
that had only emerged in the past few months. "It's the same reason I write  
romance novels, now. When Yaten took me on tour with him, I got to meet a lot  
of people from a lot of different walks of life, and as unique as they all  
were, there was one thing that was always the same. They loved Yaten because  
his music is about searching for love." A contented sigh escaped her lips.  
"Everyone has a love story waiting out there for them. I did, and you do too.  
It's just a matter of following your own star."  
She looked out the window. Only a few more days before he came back,  
smiled her heart. And in the meantime, lovers and dreamers laid in wait in  
her imagination, ready to spring to passionate life on paper. Love was her  
life now-- it was her destiny. Hers alone. She was Aino Minako, known as the  
Goddess of Love to fans of her book-- her very first published book! A  
chronicler of loves past, present, and future... and a lover herself.  
Finally, she was embracing her very own destiny. "Thank you, Yaten," she said  
silently, "for helping me reach my star."  
  
THE END  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Allllllllllllll RIGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!  
  
I really didn't expect her to start writing romance novels. It just happened.  
But it sounds like a pretty good occupation for her, ne?  
  
The point of this fic was not only to bring Minako and Yaten together, but to  
prove WHY they belonged together. Too many fanfics stick two characters in a  
romantic relationship without giving us a single reason why they are good for  
each other. I saw the vulnerability of Minako and Yaten, the similarity of  
the facades they put up for the world, and it occurred to me that I could help  
them along, that with the right guidance they could find each other and be  
happy.   
I considered begging the forgiveness of all the people who might not see these  
two very special characters this way. But I don't think I will. I built on  
what I was shown, and I matured them in a way that brought them closer to each  
other. If you were expecting more crazy-Minako and annoying-Yaten in this  
story, then you are probably disappointed. But with any luck, I presented a  
good enough case that you could believe the maturing of these characters.  
  
Who to thank, who to thank? Well, there's become a tradition among the Sappy  
Romance Fanfic Authors that you have to thank all of the other Sappy Romance  
Fanfic Authors. So to all the sweet girls who have kept my appetite for  
romance appeased and who have mentioned me in their credits sections, Razzz,  
Crystal Heart, Rain Ayo, Sue Mei, Corina Borsuk, and a wink to Sailor Mac for  
private reasons (say hi to Marla for me, love, I.) Read these people's  
stories. They're good. Nyah. :P  
  
And to all the people who have e-mailed me saying "I loved Darien's View, are  
you going to write anything else?" It's not a Tuxfic, but I hope this  
suffices!! I'm certainly damn proud of it. You have really been my  
inspiration and forced me to keep slaving at this thing no matter HOW  
ponderous it seemed. Arigatou.  
  
A special thanks to my parents for getting me sufficiently ticked off at them  
that I could come downstairs and write the last several pages of this in one  
fell swoop, after two weeks of writer's block. And for giving birth to me and  
letting my star grow in its own time, and develop its own glitter. And a  
special thanks to someone whose initials are JW (not me OR my brother!) who  
talked out the problems of my fic with me and helped me through the nasty knot  
of writer's block. I truly appreciate it. A super special thanks to  
oneechan-tachi: Pandora, Brian, and Myrna... all three of you deserve endless  
happiness and joy, and I care very deeply about you all. Ganbatte.  
  
More thanks to Latonya for encouragement and Ranmathons, to P-chan ^_^ for a  
certain kind of inspiration, and to Ilana Tavan, my official Uranus/Neptune  
consultant, for endless support and giggles and friendship. I love you all.  
(Everyone, if you like Harukafics, go read Ilana's fics. They're worth your  
time. Keep writing, Ilana-chan!)  
  
And the biggest thank you of all for this story goes to a fellow writer whom I  
met the day before I completed this story. She's inspired me with so many  
wonderful stories and has been such a sweet and fun friend to me. She was the  
first person to read any part of this story, and her encouragement was so  
extraordinary... so all I can say is Domo Arigatou, Lianne-chan.  
  
All right! I'm outie!  
  
**  
  
"Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Yaten's Love Song" is a Sailor Moon  
fanfic by Jennifer A. Wand, completed February 15, 1998. Sailor Moon and all  
related items are property of Miss Takeuchi Naoko, Kodansha, Bandai, Toei, TV  
Asahi, DIC, and anyone else whose name I will put up here if they sue me. Any  
disclaimers I forgot? No? Then goodnight, everybody!  



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